Anthony Pettis is 9-8 in the UFC

Islam Imamate

Master of sports in Moderation.
Staff member
Senior Moderator
Joined
Jul 20, 2011
Messages
53,581
Reaction score
30,193
He also hasn't won more than one fight in a row since he went on his five fight title run. He's 1-1 at both FW and WW. I am not making this thread to shit on Pettis because he is clearly a good fighter and quite an entertaining one too. But I am wondering what he has left in this sport as an athlete. He doesn't seem to be anywhere near a title shot in any of the three weight classes he's fought in and he's not getting any younger(turns 33 in January).

Where should he go from here both short term in the sense of his next fight and long term in the sense of realistic goals for the future? Looks like he has a tough time finding an easy fight, dude is always fighting the best but he's stuck winning one then losing one. I wouldn't say he should hang his gloves up just yet but maybe he should stick to looking for money fights for now. Guida is coming off a loss, maybe he'd like to get that one back.
 
Bellator.
giphy.gif
 
He's about to be 10-8 tho if they are serious about him fighting diego sanchez
 
Very few people have faced the level of competition he has faced over that many fights.
 
He should stay at 170 and just take interesting fights until he retires or leaves.
 
33 isn't that old in this sport.i don't think his age is the problem. He just seems to be at that point in his career where he doesn't care about being the best fighter anymore, but instead just wants to put on fun fights and make money. All the power to him, I guess.
 
Bellator.
giphy.gif
Not a bad idea.
33 isn't that old in this sport.i don't think his age is the problem. He just seems to be at that point in his career where he doesn't care about being the best fighter anymore, but instead just wants to put on fun fights and make money. All the power to him, I guess.
Depends on the division. 33 is ancient for the lower weight classes and at HW you're basically a spring chicken at that age. Its worth noting Tony is two years older than him and has had some serious injuries too though of course Pettis has as well.

I didn't mention his age because I think he's old as of now but I do think his best years are behind him, at this point I expect him to trend downwards.
 
<6>
He's faced a murderers' row to be fair. His mindset is not the same one that won him the belt.

I think that Duke has a lot to answer for, his guys have been getting badly exposed recently.
 
And until last week, people thought Nate Diaz was top 10 WW for UD'ing Pettis lol
 
He also hasn't won more than one fight in a row since he went on his five fight title run. He's 1-1 at both FW and WW. I am not making this thread to shit on Pettis because he is clearly a good fighter and quite an entertaining one too. But I am wondering what he has left in this sport as an athlete. He doesn't seem to be anywhere near a title shot in any of the three weight classes he's fought in and he's not getting any younger(turns 33 in January).

Where should he go from here both short term in the sense of his next fight and long term in the sense of realistic goals for the future? Looks like he has a tough time finding an easy fight, dude is always fighting the best but he's stuck winning one then losing one. I wouldn't say he should hang his gloves up just yet but maybe he should stick to looking for money fights for now. Guida is coming off a loss, maybe he'd like to get that one back.
Anthony “USADA” Pettis.
 
It's fair to point out though the INSANE quality of his schedule. He never had an easy fight. I mean, look at this:

Loss 22–9 Nate Diaz Decision (unanimous) UFC 241 August 17, 2019 3 5:00 Anaheim, California, United States
Win 22–8 Stephen Thompson KO (punches) UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Pettis March 23, 2019 2 4:55 Nashville, Tennessee, United States Return to Welterweight. Performance of the Night.
Loss 21–8 Tony Ferguson TKO (corner stoppage) UFC 229 October 6, 2018 2 5:00 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Fight of the Night.
Win 21–7 Michael Chiesa Submission (triangle armbar) UFC 226 July 7, 2018 2 0:52 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Catchweight (157.5 lbs) bout; Chiesa missed weight. Performance of the Night.
Loss 20–7 Dustin Poirier Submission (body triangle) UFC Fight Night: Poirier vs. Pettis November 11, 2017 3 2:08 Norfolk, Virginia, United States Fight of the Night.
Win 20–6 Jim Miller Decision (unanimous) UFC 213 July 8, 2017 3 5:00 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Return to Lightweight.
Loss 19–6 Max Holloway TKO (body kick and punches) UFC 206 December 10, 2016 3 4:50 Toronto, Ontario, Canada Originally for the interim UFC Featherweight Championship; Pettis missed weight (148 lbs) and became ineligible for the title.
Win 19–5 Charles Oliveira Submission (guillotine choke) UFC on Fox: Maia vs. Condit August 27, 2016 3 1:49 Vancouver,British Columbia, Canada Featherweight debut.
Loss 18–5 Edson Barboza Decision (unanimous) UFC 197 April 23, 2016 3 5:00 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Loss 18–4 Eddie Alvarez Decision (split) UFC Fight Night: Dillashaw vs. Cruz January 17, 2016 3 5:00 Boston,Massachusetts, United States
Loss 18–3 Rafael dos Anjos Decision (unanimous) UFC 185 March 14, 2015 5 5:00 Dallas, Texas, United States Lost the UFC Lightweight Championship.
Win 18–2 Gilbert Melendez Submission (guillotine choke) UFC 181 December 6, 2014 2 1:53 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Defended the UFC Lightweight Championship. Performance of the Night.
Win 17–2 Benson Henderson Submission (armbar) UFC 164 August 31, 2013 1 4:31 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States Won the UFC Lightweight Championship. Submission of the Night.
Win 16–2 Donald Cerrone KO (kick to the body) UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Dodson January 26, 2013 1 2:35 Chicago, Illinois, United States Knockout of the Night.
Win 15–2 Joe Lauzon KO (head kick and punches) UFC 144 February 26, 2012 1 1:21 Saitama, Japan Knockout of the Night.
Win 14–2 Jeremy Stephens Decision (split) UFC 136 October 8, 2011 3 5:00 Houston, Texas, United States

<mma4>
 
I still don’t get why he gets so much love from the UFC. Yea he was a former champion but that was a long time ago and yet he’s still in commercials.
 
He also hasn't won more than one fight in a row since he went on his five fight title run. He's 1-1 at both FW and WW. I am not making this thread to shit on Pettis because he is clearly a good fighter and quite an entertaining one too. But I am wondering what he has left in this sport as an athlete. He doesn't seem to be anywhere near a title shot in any of the three weight classes he's fought in and he's not getting any younger(turns 33 in January).

Where should he go from here both short term in the sense of his next fight and long term in the sense of realistic goals for the future? Looks like he has a tough time finding an easy fight, dude is always fighting the best but he's stuck winning one then losing one. I wouldn't say he should hang his gloves up just yet but maybe he should stick to looking for money fights for now. Guida is coming off a loss, maybe he'd like to get that one back.
Pettis is such a tricky situation.

Usually when a fighter has such mixed results it's because they have a cap in their skills that allows them to beat opponents up to a certain calibre, but not the top fighters.

In Pettis's case, he is his own limitation. When he's shows up focused he is nearly unbeatable. He's so quick, accurate, and powerful.

But ever second or third fight he signs up for, he shows up looking uninterested, unfocused, and basically is a duck ready to be shot out of the sky.
 
Very few people have faced the level of competition he has faced over that many fights.

He has the hardest schedule of anyone in the UFC I think for their careers. He’s faced nothing but absolute killers in all of his fights.

He’s reached the pinnacle of the sport, he won’t get there again, but he has interesting fights.

I’ll always want to watch Pettis vs Conor, and Pettis vs any striker honestly.
 
I remember when they were trying to hype him as the p4p best.
I believed it at the time too. Him tapping Bendo and Gil is what cemented it to me. He's the first guy to tap Giblert and at the time and Bendo isn't exactly easy to submit either. In fact Bendo had just gotten his black belt in BJJ going into the Pettis fight.

Obviously way off in hindsight.
Anthony “USADA” Pettis.
I don't think its that, he looks fine when he's on its just that his style is beatable if you have the right skills and he runs into guys with those skills every other fight.
 
With his bro going to Bellator, that’s where he will end up inevitably.
 
He also hasn't won more than one fight in a row since he went on his five fight title run. He's 1-1 at both FW and WW. I am not making this thread to shit on Pettis because he is clearly a good fighter and quite an entertaining one too. But I am wondering what he has left in this sport as an athlete. He doesn't seem to be anywhere near a title shot in any of the three weight classes he's fought in and he's not getting any younger(turns 33 in January).

Where should he go from here both short term in the sense of his next fight and long term in the sense of realistic goals for the future? Looks like he has a tough time finding an easy fight, dude is always fighting the best but he's stuck winning one then losing one. I wouldn't say he should hang his gloves up just yet but maybe he should stick to looking for money fights for now. Guida is coming off a loss, maybe he'd like to get that one back.

He IS looking for money fights. That's why he's 9-8. Pettis is the reason Pettis isn't getting easy matchups. He refuses to face guys outside the top 10. Weidman is the same way.
 
He's always been horribly overrated and deluded. He likes to make excuses for his every loss by saying to himself "I wasn't really there; that wasn't the real Pettis!" when the truth is obvious: he has a wrestling deficit which renders him vulnerable to pressure fighters. Rather than to make that his #1 priority he weaves a narrative about how he needs to "get it back", as if there was some undefeated Pettis that once was and never did lose lurking beneath the flawed fighter that keeps showing up.
 
Last edited:
Not a bad idea.

Depends on the division. 33 is ancient for the lower weight classes and at HW you're basically a spring chicken at that age. Its worth noting Tony is two years older than him and has had some serious injuries too though of course Pettis has as well.

I didn't mention his age because I think he's old as of now but I do think his best years are behind him, at this point I expect him to trend downwards.

I think his mindset is the bigger factor in his downward trend than his age, but yeah, either way I don't see much changing with him.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top