Former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis will not be fighting at PFL 4 on Thursday night, after he reportedly was pulled off the card due to an undisclosed illness.
Pettis was originally scheduled to fight Alexander Martinez before the move was made. Martinez will now face Natan Schulte as a last-second replacement and Pettis will fight on June 25th against Raush Manfio in his final chance to make the PFL playoffs this season.
In his first fight, Pettis lost to Clay Collard by unanimous decision at PFL 1 just two months ago. Collard is also on the PFL 4 card and will face Joilton Lutterbach on the prelims.
Pettis signed with PFL earlier this year following a long-tenured career with the UFC, that included highlight knockout finishes and a two-fight reign as the promotion’s lightweight champion. Pettis had his ups and downs after losing the belt to Rafael Dos Anjos which included moves to featherweight and welterweight.
Even at 37 years old, Pettis showed that he’s still a capable competitor in MMA during his war with Collard earlier this year. His brother, Sergio also earned the Bellator bantamweight championship earlier this year, pulling off the upset against then-champion Juan Archuleta.
The featherweight bout between two-time PFL featherweight champion Lance Palmer and Movlid Khaybulaev has also been moved to the PFL 6 card on June 25th.
Thursday’s card will feature the highly-anticipated women’s lightweight fight between MMA rookie Claressa Shields and Brittney Elkin. Shields is making her MMA debut after a long career as one of the most accomplished boxers regardless of gender in history.
Pettis has the chance to salvage his debut season in PFL in just a few weeks, and hopefully he’ll be at 100% physically entering the fight.
Do you think Anthony Pettis will still make the PFL playoffs despite being pulled off of the PFL 4 card?