Michel Pereira is hoping to fight Anthony Pettis next. Pereira derailed the hype of Khaos Williams on Saturday night as he won by decision. However, it wasn’t the usual Pereira performance as he didn’t do any flips or unusual striking which…
Michel Pereira is hoping to fight Anthony Pettis next. Pereira derailed the hype of Khaos Williams on Saturday night as he won by decision. However, it wasn’t the usual Pereira performance as he didn’t do any flips or unusual striking which he says was part of the gameplan. “I tried to stay safe because I […]
Former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis has suggested giving up alcohol as the reason for his improved form as of late. ‘Showtime’ picked up a second successive win this past weekend when he beat unranked welterweight Alex Morono in the featured prelim at UFC Vegas 17. Earlier this year Pettis edged out Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone […]
Former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis has suggested giving up alcohol as the reason for his improved form as of late.
‘Showtime’ picked up a second successive win this past weekend when he beat unranked welterweight Alex Morono in the featured prelim at UFC Vegas 17. Earlier this year Pettis edged out Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone at UFC 249 to snap a two-fight losing skid. The 33-year-old dropped successive fights against Carlos Diego Ferreira and Nate Diaz.
Speaking to Brett Okamoto after his impressive win at UFC Vegas 17, Pettis his recent good form on giving up alcohol, he said.
“When I won, I was like drinking because of celebration drinking. If I lost, I was drinking because of sorrow drinking. My diet would get sh*t and I would be all over the place with like my outside life. When I got to a training camp I was like 100% strict, but what you do outside of that camp really matters inside your camps. I think I was doing, like, these forced training camps coming off a win. I was coming off being happy and doing that sort of stuff. You know, I cleaned up that part of my life and I’m taking fighting more seriously right now. It feels good to see the progression and win two fights (in a row) for such a long time.” (Transcribed by BJPENN.com)
Pettis is technically a free agent after finishing up his UFC contract his past weekend. The former champion has no plans of going elsewhere though and immediately began talking about dropping back down to lightweight for a rematch with Tony Ferguson who has struggled lately. ‘El Cucuy’ fought and lost twice in 2020, suffering a TKO defeat against Justin Gaethje before being dominated by Charles Oliveira over three rounds at UFC 256 earlier this month.
Who do you think Anthony Pettis should fight next?
Anthony Pettis has not relinquished his goal of becoming lightweight champion again, and he believes a rematch against Tony Ferguson is the next step on his path back to gold. Anthony Pettis has now won two consecutive fights at welterweight after def…
Anthony Pettis has not relinquished his goal of becoming lightweight champion again, and he believes a rematch against Tony Ferguson is the next step on his path back to gold. Anthony Pettis has now won two consecutive fights at welterweight after defeating Alex Morono at UFC on ESPN: Thompson vs. Neal (UFC Vegas 17). But […]
Anthony Pettis wants to run things back with Tony Ferguson. Pettis made it two wins in a row following an impressive unanimous decision victory over Alex Morono in their welterweight bout at UFC Vegas 17 on Saturday night. As a result, the former lightweight champion is now on a winning streak for the first time […]
Anthony Pettis wants to run things back with Tony Ferguson.
Pettis made it two wins in a row following an impressive unanimous decision victory over Alex Morono in their welterweight bout at UFC Vegas 17 on Saturday night.
As a result, the former lightweight champion is now on a winning streak for the first time since 2014. However, he stated in his post-fight interview that he plans on going back down to his old division.
As for who he wants? He believes a rematch with “El Cucuy” makes sense.
“I think Tony makes sense, man,” Pettis said at the post-fight press conference. “I think Tony Ferguson coming off his two losses — and he’s fighting tough dudes — that’s what I hate about this sport. Guys are like, ‘oh, Tony’s done.’ Dude, he’s a dangerous dude.
“But I think that would be a good fight for me to jump back in the lightweight mix and he’s still right up there.”
Ferguson, of course, defeated Pettis via second-round TKO when they met in a lightweight contest in the co-main event of UFC 229 back in October 2018.
Following UFC 256 last weekend, however, Ferguson is now on a two-fight losing streak. And Pettis believes with some adjustments in addition to a proper camp, he can come out on top against the former interim champion.
“Man, he got me early with those elbows,” Pettis added. “I think I make some adjustments in there and actually have a full training camp. Not taking anything away from him but I took that fight on short notice, the weight cut was horrible and I just wasn’t mentally there in that process. I was just doing these 155 fights because I kind of had to, not because I want to.
“That’s the difference right now. I’m making the decision outside the Octagon to make these fights go easier.”
Michel Pereira believes there is a strong chance that Anthony Pettis ducked him for tomorrow’s UFC Vegas 17 card. Tomorrow night, Michel Pereira will be taking on Khaos Williams in a fight that is expected to steal the show at UFC Vegas 17. But if Pere…
Michel Pereira believes there is a strong chance that Anthony Pettis ducked him for tomorrow’s UFC Vegas 17 card. Tomorrow night, Michel Pereira will be taking on Khaos Williams in a fight that is expected to steal the show at UFC Vegas 17. But if Pereira had it his way, he would be taking on […]
Michel Pereira was disappointed not to be fighting Anthony Pettis this weekend. Pereira meets Khaos Williams on the featured prelim bout of UFC Vegas 17 on Saturday night. Pettis, meanwhile, is set to take on Alex Morono on the same card. However, Pereira was originally looking to fight the former UFC lightweight champion in Pettis […]
Michel Pereira was disappointed not to be fighting Anthony Pettis this weekend.
Pereira meets Khaos Williams on the featured prelim bout of UFC Vegas 17 on Saturday night. Pettis, meanwhile, is set to take on Alex Morono on the same card.
However, Pereira was originally looking to fight the former UFC lightweight champion in Pettis only to be told he was injured. Instead, both fighters are competing on the same card against different opponents and Pereira believes that’s due to Pettis being afraid to fight him.
“I’m upset with Anthony Pettis because he said he was hurt, he had a back injury, and wouldn’t fight me, and I understood that, he’s hurt and can’t fight, OK, but now he’s fighting on the same card on the 19th,” Pereira told MMA Fighting. “So why isn’t he fighting me? Is he scared? Or is it because I’m not ranked? Why? I almost didn’t get a fight in December because he was stalling for a month to say yes or no. He said no, and now he’s also fighting on the 19th.”
“I think it’s fear, right? It can only be fear. I don’t know. He can’t fight me but will fight someone else? I think it’s fear. … I know many fighters in my division are afraid of me, but time will come for me to fight them all. With my humbleness, focus, discipline and charisma, I’ll reach the top and get my moment.”
Pettis, however, would clarify why that ended up being the case while acknowledging that he was offered a fight with Pereira.
“When they offered me a fight on the 19th, I was looking at the 12th, the last fight card,” Pettis said. “If I’m gonna fight, I’d rather be on the last card fight of year, get an extra week. This was probably three weeks ago. I think they offered him [Pereira] to my agent for the 12th and I’m like, ‘I’d rather have the extra week.’ During that one week of negotiations when [Leon] Edwards got his COVID test results and pulled out because of COVID, that opened up a spot on the 19th card and I hit up Dana [White] myself [and said], ‘Dana, let me get on that card.’
“Dana sends me five names and he’s like, these are the guys available. That guy’s name wasn’t on that list. I know who he is because he’s tried the ‘Showtime Kick,’ and he did it a couple of times, but he’s mistaken that he thinks I’m afraid. I already fought the guy who’s in the main event of the card, why would I be afraid to fight this dude?”
Pettis would clap back further about the notion that he was scared to fight the Brazilian.
“Maybe he should look at who I fought and then he can tell me if I’m afraid to fight a guy like him,” Pettis added. “A guy like him, especially since he comes from a striking background, maybe our paths will cross. But it wasn’t in God’s plan right now for us to fight. I don’t really gotta speak on that; I feel like he has to talk the talk to get a fight with me. These guys want to fight me, these guys want to get in the octagon with me.”
What do you think of Pereira’s statement and the response of Pettis? Would you like to see them fight in the future?
Former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis has suggested giving up alcohol as the reason for his improved form as of late. ‘Showtime’ picked up a second successive win this past weekend when he beat unranked welterweight Alex Morono in the featured prelim at UFC Vegas 17. Earlier this year Pettis edged out Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone […]
Anthony Pettis wants to run things back with Tony Ferguson. Pettis made it two wins in a row following an impressive unanimous decision victory over Alex Morono in their welterweight bout at UFC Vegas 17 on Saturday night. As a result, the former lightweight champion is now on a winning streak for the first time […]
Michel Pereira was disappointed not to be fighting Anthony Pettis this weekend. Pereira meets Khaos Williams on the featured prelim bout of UFC Vegas 17 on Saturday night. Pettis, meanwhile, is set to take on Alex Morono on the same card. However, Pereira was originally looking to fight the former UFC lightweight champion in Pettis […]