Anthony Paul Pettis is an American professional mixed martial artist. He formerly fought in the Welterweight, Lightweight, and Featherweight divisions for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Pettis was also the final WEC Lightweight Champion prior to the promotion being merged into the UFC. He currently fights for the Professional Fighters League in the welterweight and featherweight divisions.
About Anthony Pettis in brief
Anthony Paul Pettis is an American professional mixed martial artist. He formerly fought in the Welterweight, Lightweight, and Featherweight divisions for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Pettis was also the final WEC Lightweight Champion prior to the promotion being merged into the UFC. He is a member of Roufusport where he trains with fighters Alan Belcher, Erik Koch, Ben Rothwell, Ben Askren, and Danny Downes. His father was stabbed to death by a robber at a friend’s house on November 12, 2003. He has a younger brother, Sergio Pettis, who fights in the flyweight division. He was expected to face the winner of Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, which took place at UFC 125 on May 3, but both fighters sustained injuries before the fight. Instead, Pettis faced Frankie Edgar at UFC 130, which was postponed due to Edgar’s injury. He won the fight via unanimous decision. He then went on to fight Benson Henderson, who he beat in the final fight of the night at WEC 53. In October 2010, the UFC merged with the World Extreme Cagefighting and Pettis moved to the WEC. He currently fights for the Professional Fighters League in the welterweight and featherweight divisions. His last fight was against Shane Roller on August 18, 2011. He lost the fight by unanimous decision, but was awarded as the Fight of the Night for his performance. He also has a professional kickboxing background.
In MMA, he is known for his smooth and technical fighting style, as well as his athletic feats and wide range of techniques. He started training taekwondo and boxing at the age of 5, and in college he also started wrestling. His grandfather Anglicized the family name from Pérez to Pettis to avoid discrimination. He went to The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom tryouts, but didn’t make it to the show. He made his professional MMA debut in December 2007. He compiled a record of 8–0 in all fights being held by Adam Sandoval and Duke RoufUS before debuting with the Gladiator Fighting Series Lightweight Championship. He suffered his first professional loss on December 19, 2009, dropping a split decision to Bart Palaszewski. His final fight came against Benson Henderson on December 16, 2011, for the W EC Lightweight championship. The fight was closely contested throughout, providing back and forth action, both standing and on the ground. In the fifth round Pettis ran up, jumped off the cage, then landed a switch kick while airborne. Sports reporters later named this fight the final kick of the Showtime Kick of the Day. He later won the final K-1 bout against Alex Karalexis in the second round of WEC 48, which he won via submission in the 2nd round. He last fight before joining WEC was a short notice welterweights bout.
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