Anthony Pettis News

Tom Taylor - April 6, 2018

This morning, the MMA community was rocked by the terrible news that Max Holloway—in the midst of his cut down to 155 pounds—was deemed unfit to fight at UFC 223, and forced of his planned lightweight title fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov as a result. “[Khabib Nurmagomedov] my brother, I want to keep going but they are stopping me,” Holloway said in a Friday morning statement on Twitter, assuring that he would have continued to cut weight were it not for the intervention of the New York State Athletic Commission. “Sorry to your team and the fans. You don’t deserve this. This is number one. Shout outs to you and [Anthony Pettis]. Give the fans what they deserve.”

Tom Taylor - April 6, 2018

If ever there was a truly cursed fight card, it’s UFC 223. A week after Tony Ferguson withdrew from his originally scheduled main event battle with Khabib Nurmagomedov, and less than 24 hours after Conor McGregor and his cronies caused the cancellation of a whopping three scheduled fights, featherweight champ Max Holloway has been forced out of his last-minute showdown with Khabib Nurmagomedov, having been deemed medically unfit to fight. The good news is that Khabib Nurmagomedov could still fight on the card. According to multiple reports, Anthony Pettis has been called on to step in against the undefeated Dagestani star. Pettis will first need to hit the 155-mark.

Tom Taylor - March 26, 2018

From a competitive standpoint, CM Punk’s MMA debut was a downright disaster. Though nobody has ever questioned the former pro wrestler’s cojones, he looked every bit a novice when he stepped into the cage with Mickey Gall at UFC 203 in September of 2016, and ultimately submitted to a first-round choke. While a blowout loss of this scale might have deterred a lesser competitor, however, Punk didn’t let it shake him from his goals. The former pro wrestler returned to the gym almost immediately after his loss to Gall, where he’s been working tirelessly ever since.

Drake Riggs - March 19, 2018

It’s been a rough past couple of years for the former UFC lightweight champion and last WEC lightweight champion, Anthony “Showtime” Pettis. Since starting his UFC career off 5-1 and winning the title, Pettis has gone a disappointing 2-5 which also included a very brief stint at featherweight.

Justin Golightly - March 8, 2018

Michael Chiesa was riding a nice little three-fight win streak until he ran into Kevin Lee, but now he’s back on the journey to restore his standing in the division and get back in that win column. He’ll be fighting former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis at the stacked UFC 223 card. Not only is he eager to get back in the cage, but he’s also relieved that Conor McGregor will be stripped to leave room for other fighters like himself to eventually get a title shot. “The biggest thing we need, is we need movement. The 155-pound division has been log-jammed so many times. When Anthony was champion he had some injuries that held him out for a while, you know, so the division got jammed up. And then we had some movement, and then Conor [McGregor] won the title and we’re jammed up again, and you know, you just gotta keep the wheels in motion. It’s just good to see. Conor’s a two-time champion, but he can’t just sit and hold the belt and keep us all waiting. You know, there’s a lot of tough guys jockeying for their position to be number one, and you only have so much time in this sport, so you can’t let one guy rob a bunch of us of our opportunities to fight for the belt.”

Justin Golightly - February 1, 2018

The card is only about half finished but already the UFC’s trip to Brooklyn is looking awesome. UFC 223 is topped with the huge lightweight clash between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson, with Rose Namajunas defending her new strawweight title against the very woman she took it from, the dangerous Joanna Jedrzejczyk. That should be enough to tune in, but underneath that are just more fun scraps. The latest addition is Michael Chiesa and Anthony Pettis. More LWs are headed to Brooklyn! 🌃@MikeMav22 and @ShowtimePettis join April’s #UFC223 card. pic.twitter.com/Rc5FGVInGj

Drake Riggs - January 30, 2018

UFC 223 continues to grow! Already off to a hot start with two title fights and three Lightweight fights in total…it looks like another might be getting added! ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reports that a showdown between season 15 winner of The Ultimate Fighter, Michael Chiesa and former WEC and UFC Lightweight champion, Anthony Pettis could be in the cards for the night of action in Brooklyn, New York. Per sources, UFC is targeting a lightweight bout between Anthony Pettis and Michael Chiesa for UFC 223 on April 7 in Brooklyn.

Drake Riggs - January 9, 2018

The last time we saw former WEC and UFC Lightweight champion, Anthony Pettis in action he was covered in blood and looking for submissions off his back against Dustin Poirier at UFC Fight Night 120 on November 11. Pettis lost that fight via TKO from a rib injury he sustained when Poirier transitioned off his back into mount on Pettis. This loss made the former champ 2-5 in his last seven outings, which also meant he has yet to put together a winning streak since he was the UFC champion back in 2014. Pettis appears to be healing up though and has a date targeted according to Ariel Helwani who confirms that Pettis wants to fight on the UFC’s next London card which is on March 17. No potential opponents were named by Helwani… But Nolan King reports that there has been at least some discussion that the UFC is looking at the rising star, Mairbek Taisumov for Pettis’ next opponent.

Tom Taylor - November 12, 2017

On Saturday night, in the main event of the UFC’s action packed stop in Norfolk, Virginia, lightweight stars Anthony Pettis and Dustin Poirier stepped into the cage together in a fight that was long expected to deliver fireworks. When the cage door locked, the fight delivered. For two and a half rounds, Pettis and Poirier thrilled onlookers, swapping heavy artillery and submission attempts and painting the canvas red with blood. In the end, however, Poirier earned himself a TKO win, slapping a tight body triangle onto his foe, whose midsection seemed to be injured.

Chris Taylor - November 11, 2017

After an insane fight, Anthony Pettis taps out and Dustin Poirier earns the biggest win of his career! #UFCNorfolk https://t.co/ITDZtPavf2 — FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) November 12, 2017

Chris Taylor - November 11, 2017

A key lightweight scrap between Dustin Poirier and former division champion Anthony Pettis headlined tonight’s UFC Fight Night card in Norfolk, Virginia. Round one begins and Pettis starts things off with a side kick followed by a low kick. Poirier is pressing forward but Anthony catches him with another low kick. Dustin misses with an uppercut. Pettis leaps in with a flying knee followed by a left hand. Dustin shoots in and scores with a double leg takedown. Pettis is up against the fence which he might use to wall-walk here. Pettis is looking to lock up a guillotine choke. He switches to a kimura attempt. Poirier breaks free of the submission attempt and lands some shots to the body. Pettis scores a sweep and winds up on top. He opts to stand up and Poirier catches him with an elbow. Pettis lands a nice counter right hand over the top. He finds a home for it again. Poirier once again shoots in for a takedown but this time Pettis is able to defend. Anthony misses with a low kick and Poirier counters nicely with a left hand. That appeared to stun Pettis. Poirier comes forward with a combination. He is all over Pettis here. Anthony lands a spinning back fist. Poirier with another flurry. Round one comes to an end.

Justin Golightly - November 8, 2017

Even though Dustin Poirier is about to fight Anthony Pettis this weekend, he still wants to know ‘where the f-ck’ Eddie Alvarez is. We all know the story by now, but these scrappers were on their way to Fight of the Night back at UFC 211 and Poirier felt he was on his way to a victory. We were potentially robbed of both by some illegal shots by Eddie Alvarez which made the bout a no contest. The two still have unfinished business, but Poirier driven toward something even bigger: UFC lightweight gold. “You know, in that fight, everybody who watched it saw I whipped Eddie Alvarez, made him look like an amateur. I mean the guy was two steps behind, couldn’t keep up. And then he kneed me in the back of the head with a shot that was illegal. And in the heat of the moment, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I thought it could’ve been an accident. I thought he might’ve been hurt, you know, and he was in fight mode, survival mode, he was just fighting and he kneed me. I told the crowd in Dallas to stop booing him, stood up for the guy, then he came out on social media talking sh-t, saying I wanted out of the fight.”

Tom Taylor - August 15, 2017

During the broadcast of the UFC’s recent trip to Mexico City, former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis called for a fight with fellow lightweight contender Dustin Poirier. Shortly thereafter, Poirier confirmed his interest in this fight on Twitter. Poirier later reaffirmed his interest in this fight in an interview with BJPenn.com’s own Chris Taylor. “You know I was hoping for a top-five opponent,” he told Taylor. “But if I can’t get that, then Anthony Pettis is a former champion in both WEC and UFC. The guy is a big name in the sport, so that would be a good fight as well.”

Tom Taylor - August 6, 2017

Last month, former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis returned to the division he once ruled after a short stint at featherweight. His opponent in this return was ever-exciting veteran Jim Miller. Pettis looked great in his lightweight return, out-duelling Miller to a sound unanimous decision win. Now, he’s keen to step back into the cage and take another step in the direction of the title. During the broadcast of last night’s UFC Fight Night 114, Pettis revealed that he has an opponent in mind for his second fight back in the lightweight division. That opponent is all-action contender Dustin Poirier.

Russell Ess - July 12, 2017

UFC 213 crowned a new UFC interim middleweight champion as Yoel Romero and Robert Whittaker battled in a five-round interim title fight. It was a classic matchup with the two competing in a grueling fight that went the distance where judges ruled Whittaker the new interim champion of the middleweight division. With a middleweight title unification bout against undisputed champion Michael Bisping on the horizon, we may not see the fight take place until next year as Whittaker’s injured knee needs to be cleared by an orthopedic doctor or else face a medical suspension till January 2018.

Chris Taylor - July 8, 2017

UFC 213 Results: Jim Miller vs. Anthony Pettis A lightweight scrap between former division title holder Anthony Pettis and veteran contender Jim Miller took place on tonight’s UFC 213 main card in Las Vegas.

bjpenndotcom - July 6, 2017

This Saturday at UFC 213, former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis will make his highly anticipated return to the Octagon when he takes on fellow UFC veteran Jim Miller. Ahead of the fight, Anthony Pettis knows he’s likely in a must-win situation after going just 1-4 over the course of his last 5 fights, with his most recent loss being a 3rd round TKO to Max Holloway at UFC 206. He spoke to MMAJunkie to explain what he did differently this camp, in order to prepare himself for the fight:

Tom Taylor - July 2, 2017

This Saturday, on the main card of UFC 213, former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis will look to correct one of the toughest slumps of his career opposite lightweight veteran Jim Miller. While Miller represents a small step down in competition for the struggling Pettis – who has recently battled a procession of top-10 foes in Max Holloway, Charles Oliveira, Edson Barboza, Eddie Alvarez and Rafael Dos Anjos – this is apparently a fight Pettis asked for specifically.