The always self-motivated Anthony Pettis required no extra incentive to perform well in his upcoming WEC lightweight title challenge against Ben Henderson at WEC 53. So when the stakes of the fight was raised last Friday — the winner would receive a UFC title shot — Pettis’ new concern was the potential problem of too much motivation.
“I have a problem with overtraining,” Pettis said Monday on The MMA Hour. “I’m the first guy in the gym and the last guy to leave, so [coach] Duke [Roufus] really monitors how much I train and makes sure I’m not overtraining.”
In just a little over three years into his professional MMA career, Pettis has an opportunity to meet the winner of the Jan. 1 UFC title fight between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard at a later date.
“This adds more fuel to the fire,” Pettis added. “I just have to make sure how much I pay attention to this, I don’t want to overtrain.”