What is Pettis missing to be a complete fighter?

[ginopascali]

Honestly I've never thought his boxing/hand strikes were that great, as well as striking defense. He did get caught a lot against Melendez before he finished the fight, and ate a lot of shots tonight as well. He did have poor vision in one eye though.

Either way, I'm looking forward to Anthony coming back strong. RDA is legit, but so is Pettis and I expect him to fight for the belt again even as early as later this year.

his rematch will take place in 2016 if not later

 

[Maryse]

Defensive striking and power. He has great speed, great timing, great technique but in a war like that he lacks the counter striking and power in his hands to turn the tide.

 

[MacDougall]

He lacked footwork, head movement, defensive wrestling, his guard wasn't very effective, he was overpowered in the clinch. He clearly has trouble when guys smother him. He needs to work on fighting in the phone booth.

 

[PrinceOfPain]

durability

First post nailed it.

 

[Deleted member 196663]

He's too athletic and smart to not have great takedown defense. That should be every strikers #1 priority.

 

[johncola]

Physical dominance.

That means controlling the distance and not being pushed backwards even when he has a reach advantage like he did last night. It means punching power, to go with his obviously lethal striking. And it means wrestling ability, to stop people overpowering and outwrestling him.

Unfortunately I think these are mostly natural things that can't always be learnt.

For Pettis to beat RDA in a rematch I think he should stay away from the cage, be light on his feet, and use a lot more movement, picking his shots, and using his accurate strikes.

 

[Frode Falch]

More heavy lowkicks and a bit fine tuning on his footwork.

He is a complete fighter allready. Some nights and fights will go better and some worse depending on how you feel that day.

He fought a beast and lost a hard fight without being stopped. He will be back.

War showtime!

 

[Frank Cujo]

Rashad said it perfectly on post fight show last night, he needs to stay the f*** off the cage and stop letting guys dictate the fight. He loves to counter-strike which is fine but it's hard to do that effectively with your back on the fence. If you look at his impressive victories over hendo, cerrone and lauzon he did his best work in the middle of the octagon. Love Pettis, he's my favorite fighter, hopefully he figures that part out.

 

[Paynebringer]

You going to tell him now?

I'll tell him how Anthony allowed Dos Anjos to back him up against the cage and bully & beat him while Pettis tried to fight off his back. Or I can tell him that RDA's kicking game seemed to be that much sharper than Pettis or just the simple fact RDA really came to fight for the belt than Pettis was prepared to defend it.

 

[Formwork]

better wrestling, better bjj, better head movement and overall striking defense when someone is willing to actually fearlessly and skillfully strike with Pettis. RDA exposed him in many ways. Pettis needs better boxing. He needs better everything.

 

[5H3RD0G]

Judo/Sambo grapplers like to swarm his range striking. He has to counter or be smothered.

 

[Formwork]

When Rory strikes he constantly makes guys move backwards. Ellenberger, Maia after round 1, Woodley the whole fight. Saffiedine. Rory made them all move backwards. Rory is mastering making opponents walk backwards. He will make Lawler walk backwards in the rematch. He's just in complete hunt mode. He will show what dominant striking is in mma in contrast with Pettis. He is taking the next title.

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

Honestly I've never thought his boxing/hand strikes were that great, as well as striking defense. He did get caught a lot against Melendez before he finished the fight, and ate a lot of shots tonight as well. He did have poor vision in one eye though.

this is what i said before the fight happened, in this very thread and everyone who responded to me acted like his boxing was on another level.

i said his kicks were excellent but his boxing defense and offense were not good, it's just everyone he fought up until Dos Anjos respected his striking too much they did exactly what he wanted, they hung back too much.

in my opinion, he's a better version of Edson Barboza.

it's only once that fighter loses does Sherdog accept criticisms of that fighter.

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

More heavy lowkicks and a bit fine tuning on his footwork.

He is a complete fighter allready. Some nights and fights will go better and some worse depending on how you feel that day.

He fought a beast and lost a hard fight without being stopped. He will be back.

War showtime!

i don't know, he's going to need more than that in my opinion. RDA completely and utterly dominated him in every aspect of the fight, outstruck, outwrestled, and out jiujitsu'd him.