Anthony Pettis (born January 27, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist, and professional boxer. Pettis formerly fought in the Welterweight, Lightweight, and Featherweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Professional Fighters League (PFL). He is a former UFC Lightweight Champion. Pettis was also the final WEC Lightweight Champion prior to the promotion being merged into the UFC.
Early life Pettis was born on January 27, 1987, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Annette (née Garcia) and Eugene Pettis Jr. He grew up in the south side of Milwaukee, along with his older brother, Reynaldo Pettis and younger brother, Sergio Pettis, who fights in the flyweight division.
Pettis is of Mexican and Puerto Rican ancestry. His grandfather, Eugenio Pérez, anglicized the family name from Pérez to Pettis to avoid discrimination. Pettis attended Dominican High School.
He started training in taekwondo and boxing at the age of 5. When he went to train mixed martial arts at Roufusport, he already had a 3rd degree black belt in taekwondo. He later trained in capoeira.
On November 12, 2003, Pettis' father was stabbed to death by a robber at a friend's house. Pettis felt detached as a result and didn't practice martial arts for several years. After his older brother became the first male in the family to graduate high school, Pettis was encouraged by a school nun to enroll at the Kenosha Fire Academy and subsequently became a firefighter.
Mixed martial arts career Early career Pettis began training in MMA in 2006 after an open house at Roufusport MMA Academy. After compiling a 3-0 record as an amateur, he made his professional MMA debut in January 2007 and won via submission in 36 seconds. Pettis compiled a record of 8–0 in all fights being held by Adam Sandoval and Duke Roufus before debuting with the World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), winning the Gladiator Fighting Series Lightweight Championship. His last fight before joining the WEC was a short notice welterweight bout.http://combatcorner.wix.com/showtimepettis#!page-2 , additional text.
Pettis also has a professional kickboxing background. In MMA, Pettis is known for his smooth and technical fighting style, as well as his athletic feats and wide range of techniques.
Pettis was coached by kickboxer and MMA trainer Duke Roufus and is a member of Roufusport where he trained with fighters Alan Belcher, Erik Koch, Ben Rothwell, Ben Askren, and Danny Downes.
Before joining the WEC, Pettis went to The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom tryouts but did not make it to the show.
WEC 2009 Pettis was expected to make his promotional debut against Anthony Njokuani on April 5, 2009, at WEC 40. However, Pettis pulled out of the fight with a hand injury and was replaced by Bart Palaszewski.
Pettis made his WEC debut at WEC 41 on June 7, 2009, where he defeated Mike Campbell via first-round triangle choke.
He was then expected to fight Rob McCullough at WEC 44 on November 18, 2009, but was pulled off the card with an undisclosed injury.
Pettis suffered his first professional loss on December 19, 2009, at WEC 45, dropping a split decision to Bart Palaszewski.
2010
Pettis rebounded from the loss with a head-kick KO victory over Danny Castillo on March 6, 2010, at WEC 47, earning Knockout of the Night honors. Training for the fight, as well as Pettis's family life, were both documented on an episode of the MTV show World of Jenks.
Pettis suffered almost no damage in the bout with Castillo and made a quick return at WEC 48 on April 24, 2010, against Alex Karalexis, replacing Zack Micklewright on short notice. He won the fight via submission in the second round.
Pettis faced Shane Roller on August 18, 2010, at WEC 50. Pettis surprised many by taking down Roller multiple times and frustrating him with fast-paced scrambles. Pettis displayed diversity in his striking with two Capoeira kicks, the martelo and the aú batido.Cofield, Steve (August 18, 2010) "In a classic, Pettis triangles Roller at WEC 50", Yahoo! Sports After several submission attempts, Pettis secured a fight-ending triangle choke in the closing seconds of the fight, earning a Submission of the Night bonus.
His last WEC fight came against Benson Henderson on December 16, 2010, at WEC 53 for the WEC Lightweight Championship. The fight was closely contested throughout, providing back and forth action, both standing and on the ground. Late in the fifth round Pettis ran up the cage, jumped off it, then connected with a flying switch kick that knocked down Henderson. Sports reporters later named this the Showtime Kick.Ciccarelli, Mitch (December 17, 2011) "Anthony Pettis' Kick and the Best Finishing Moves in MMA History", Bleacher ReportSeth Pollack "Anthony Pettis 'Showtime' Kick Seen Cageside Changed My View Of MMA", , SB Nation, December 17, 2011 Pettis won the fight via unanimous decision (48–47, 49–46, 48–47) to become the final WEC Lightweight Champion. The fight was also awarded as Fight of the Night which won Henderson and Pettis an extra $10,000.
UFC 2010 In October 2010, World Extreme Cagefighting merged with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As part of the merger, a majority of the WEC fighters were transferred to the UFC.
Pettis was expected to face the winner of Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, which took place at UFC 125. However, the bout was declared a draw, and Edgar–Maynard 3 was scheduled for UFC 130, but both fighters sustained injuries before the fight, which was postponed.
2011 Instead of waiting for the winner of Edgar/Maynard 3, Pettis faced Clay Guida on June 4 at The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.
Pettis next faced Jeremy Stephens on October 8 at UFC 136. Pettis won the closely contested bout via unanimous decision.
2012 Pettis faced Joe Lauzon on February 25 at UFC 144. He won the fight via knockout in round one. His performance earned Knockout of the Night honors.
2013 After spending the majority of 2012 recovering from a litany of injuries, Pettis faced Donald Cerrone on January 26, 2013, at UFC on Fox 6. He won the fight via TKO in round one. The performance also earned Pettis Knockout of the Night honors. After the victory, Dana White said he was "sold" on Pettis and admitted that after Benson Henderson against Gilbert Melendez on UFC on Fox 7, Pettis was to be the next to fight for the lightweight title.
On February 5, it was announced that Pettis would not wait for a title shot at lightweight, and would instead be dropping down to 145 pounds to challenge featherweight champion, José Aldo on August 3 at UFC 163. However, on June 14, Dana White announced that Pettis had pulled out of the Aldo bout with a serious knee injury, and that Aldo would instead defend the title against Chan Sung Jung.
A few weeks later after a quick recovery, it was announced on July 12 that Pettis would replace TJ Grant in a rematch for the UFC Lightweight Championship against Benson Henderson on August 31 at UFC 164. Pettis defeated Henderson via armbar submission in the first round to claim the UFC Lightweight Title. The win also earned Pettis his first Submission of the Night bonus award in the UFC.
Pettis was expected to make his first title defense against TJ Grant on December 14 at UFC on Fox 9. However, Grant revealed in mid-September that he had yet to be medically cleared after suffering a concussion in training and would not be eligible to compete on December 14. Pettis was then expected to face Josh Thomson at the event. However, the bout was canceled in mid-November after Pettis pulled out of the bout citing a knee injury.
2014 Pettis was selected to serve as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter 20, opposite Gilbert Melendez and the two would face each other at UFC 181 on December 6, 2014. Pettis won the fight via guillotine choke in the second round, becoming the first man to finish Melendez. He also earned a Performance of the Night bonus award.
2015 Pettis faced Rafael dos Anjos on March 14 at UFC 185. He lost the bout and the championship by unanimous decision.
Pettis was expected to face Myles Jury on July 25, 2015, at UFC on Fox 16. However, Pettis pulled out of the bout citing another injury and was replaced by Edson Barboza.
2016 Pettis faced Eddie Alvarez on January 17, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 81. He lost the back-and-forth bout via split decision.
Pettis faced Edson Barboza on April 23, 2016, at UFC 197. Pettis lost the fight via unanimous decision.
On the heels of a three-fight losing streak, Pettis announced in June 2016 his intention to drop to featherweight for his next fight. Pettis fought Charles Oliveira in his featherweight debut on August 27, 2016, at UFC on Fox 21. After another back-and-forth fight which saw Oliveira take his back multiple times, Pettis submitted Oliveira via guillotine choke in the 3rd round.
Pettis faced Max Holloway for the interim UFC Featherweight Championship on December 10, 2016, at UFC 206. At the weigh-ins, Pettis came in at 148 pounds, three pounds over the featherweight limit of 145 lbs. for a championship fight. As a result, in the event that Pettis were to win the fight with Holloway, he would be ineligible for the UFC championship. Pettis was also fined 20% of his purse, which went to Holloway and the bout proceeded at a catchweight. Pettis was the first fighter to miss weight for a UFC championship bout since Travis Lutter at UFC 67 in February 2007. He lost the fight via TKO in the third round.
2017 Pettis faced Jim Miller in a lightweight bout on July 8, 2017, at UFC 213. He won the fight by unanimous decision.
Pettis faced Dustin Poirier on November 11, 2017, at UFC Fight Night 120. Pettis lost the fight via submission due to a rib injury suffered from a body triangle applied by Poirier. This fight also won him the Fight of the Night bonus award.
2018 Pettis was expected to face Michael Chiesa on April 7, 2018, at UFC 223, but the bout was canceled two days before the event after Chiesa was injured in an incident in which Conor McGregor hurled a dolly through the window of the bus Chiesa was in. The shards of the shattered window cut Chiesa, who was deemed unfit to fight by the athletic commission.
On April 6, 2018, UFC Featherweight Champion Max Holloway was declared medically unfit by the New York State Athletic Commission and was pulled from his main event fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov. Pettis accepted the opportunity to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 223 for the lightweight championship on a day's notice with the hope of getting $1,000,000 for the fight. The UFC declined to pay him this much money and the deal fell through.
The bout with Chiesa was rescheduled to UFC 226. At weight-ins, Chiesa weighed in at 157.5 pounds, 1.5 pounds over the non-title lightweight limit of 156 pounds. As a result, the fight proceeded catchweight bout with Chiesa forfeiting 30% of his purse to Pettis. Pettis won the fight via triangle armbar submission in the second round. This fight earned him the Performance of the Night award.
Pettis faced Tony Ferguson on October 6, 2018, at UFC 229. After a back-and-forth fight, Pettis knocked down Ferguson in round two, but subsequently broke his hand in the process, going on to lose by corner stoppage due to his injury before the third round. This fight earned him the Fight of the Night award.
2019 On January 19, 2019, it was announced that Pettis would be returning to Welterweight for the first time since 2008 to face Stephen Thompson. This fight served as the headliner of UFC on ESPN+ 6 on March 23, 2019. Thompson outstruck Pettis for most of the bout, however Pettis won the fight via knockout late round two, becoming the first man to knockout Thompson in his MMA and kickboxing careers. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award.