Jose Aldo recently defended his featherweight strap against Frankie Edgar in the main event of UFC 156.
After Aldo defeated Edgar, many were left wondering who the next featherweight title shot would go to. Would it be “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung?
How about Ricardo Lamas, who is coming off a nasty elbow stoppage of Erik Koch?
Could it possibly be Dustin Poirier or Dennis Siver? What about Cub Swanson?
Well the person getting the next shot will not be any of the five fighters I just mentioned. According to USA Today, it will be perennial lightweight contender Anthony “Showtime” Pettis.
Pettis, who many think is on the verge of a lightweight title shot, called and received the fight with Aldo. It was a very interesting move by the lightweight star. The fight has now been made official for August 3rd.
Now comes a very interesting question. Can Pettis defeat Aldo and move back up to lightweight and potentially beat Benson Henderson? This is assuming of course that Melendez doesn’t dethrone the champion in their fight at UFC on Fox 7.
Pettis first needs to get past Aldo. It’s a very interesting fight for a few reasons. Pettis is an extremely fast and unorthodox fighter with incredibly dangerous striking. His wins over Lauzon and Cerrone prove that much. He is also very tricky off his back and will attempt countless submissions from that position.
I think that Pettis has a legitimate shot at defeating Aldo. If that feat is accomplished, then a move back to lightweight and an immediate title shot should be the next step.
If Henderson is indeed still the lightweight king, then all the better. These two fighters have history. Pettis defeated Henderson for the WEC lightweight title in the promotions last fight; it was an incredible fight and it was also the last time Henderson lost.
Pettis is good enough to accomplish both of these goals. It would be incredible to see this happen. Two tough fighters stand in the way of this ever materializing, but if there’s a fighter that could do this, Anthony Pettis is a solid choice.
Ask and you shall receive right?
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