Det var inte länge sedan Anthony ”Showtime” Pettis var mästaren i sin division, men han blev sedan besegrad av Rafael Dos Anjos via enhälligt domslut under UFC 185. Härnäst kommer han att möta Eddie Alvarez och han planerar redan nu för framtiden efter att han tar tillbaka bältet.
Det här berättade Pettis, via ”BloodyElbow”:
For me, it’s just a comeback fight. I want to compete and get my belt back. I was on top of the world, had a bad performance. That wasn’t me in that fight, you know? I feel like, if that fight would have happened ten times, nine out of ten I would have beat him. It was just that one day that I was off, I wasn’t myself.
Pettis ser fortfarande sig själv som den bästa lättviktaren i världen, något som han tänker bevisa i den kommande matchen mot den fightern som har ansetts vara den bästa lättviktaren utanför UFC.
I think Eddie’s tough, he has great hands, he’s been around for a long time, he’s been in five-round fights, so we know, he has the gas tank, the ability to compete at the highest level.
Om Pettis vinner matchen kommer han snart vara nära en chans att ta tillbaka bältet från Dos Anjos. Under tiden gör fjäderviktaren Conor McGregor ständigt rubriker och kommer snart att ta sig an fjäderviktsmästaren Jose Aldo.
It’s all talk until it happens man. He talks well, he’s doing a great job for his weight class. I mean, there would be no big money fights in featherweight, besides… that’s why I was gonna move down there. Me and Aldo was gonna be a big money fight for Aldo, but now with Conor McGregor in there, talking himself up, making himself marketable. Good for him doing that, but lightweight is a whole different place. It’s not featherweight. Featherweight is… I mean, besides Aldo, there’s not much…, I mean, there is talent, Frankie Edgar, Chad Mendes, (but) lightweight is the deepest division in the UFC, it’s a totally different story. For him to say, he’s gonna come up there and walk through everybody, it’s crazy. He’s only beat Chad Mendes, one guy in the featherweight class that’s top five.
Pettis berättar att han skulle kunna tänka sig att gå ner en viktklass när han väl har tagit hem bältet och möta antingen McGregor eller Aldo.
Yeah, for sure. I mean, featherweight has always been an option. I want my belt back, that’s my main goal. You know, I’m doing well financially, I’m not hurting at all. So for me, the goal right now is getting my belt back. What happens after that fight, we’ll see. People wanna see McGregor, I fight McGregor, people wanna see Aldo, I fight Aldo, that’s what it’s all about.
Det är ännu inte klart när Pettis kommer att möta Alvarez.
