Any hope Anthony Pettis had of fighting Benson Henderson at UFC 164 was squashed on Wednesday.
Pettis met with a UFC-approved doctor in Las Vegas who informed him that his torn meniscus injury will require him to sit out for six weeks, UFC president Dana White confirmed the news to MMAFighting.com after ESPN.com first reported it. Pettis originally believed he would return to full-strength in half that time.
The good news for Pettis is that he does not require surgery to fix his injured knee.
Pettis suffered the injury last week in Brazil while rolling with Phil Davis during a UFC 163 promotional trip. As a result of the injury, Pettis was forced to withdraw from his featherweight title fight against Jose Aldo on Aug. 3. However, as soon as word got out about his injury, “Showtime” campaigned to replace T.J. Grant against Benson Henderson on Aug. 31 in Milwaukee, his hometown.
“TJ Grant earned his shot,” Pettis said on Monday’s episode of “The MMA Hour.” “I’m not going to say I should be fighting and T.J. Grant didn’t earn his shot. T.J. Grant earned his shot, and he’s there for a reason. I don’t want the fans to think I’m trying to take his position or anything like that, but at the same time, you can’t knock me for trying. I want a title shot so bad.”
Pettis (16-2), who has missed out on two other title shots due to various, much-discussed reasons, will now have to wait a little longer.