He’s also looking to snap a three-fight losing streak while Pettis tries to rebound from back-to-back losses. Of course, those combined five losses need to be put in context, as they came against Tony Ferguson, Justin Gaethje and Conor McGregor (Cerrone), and Nate Diaz and Diego Ferreira (Pettis). That’s a murderers row for anybody, and in this sport, if you’re off a hair with your timing or lose a second’s worth of focus, it can be a bad night against that crowd.
Pettis knows it. He’s been the hammer and he’s been the nail throughout his WEC and UFC career, but win or lose, he never did it against less than top-level competition. That’s a long way without an “easy” fight.
“The only ones I want to fight are killers,” said the Milwaukee native, who won championships at 155 pounds in both the WEC and UFC. “That gets me up. Once I start fighting lower level guys and it becomes competition, that’s when it’s time to call it quits or figure something else out. Right now I’m not winning every fight or losing every fight, but I’m finding that recipe that makes it all right.”
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And at 33, Pettis is still young enough to make it all right again. Some would say his best chance to do that these days would be at 170 pounds, where he knocked out Stephen Thompson last year and gave a solid effort in a decision loss to Diaz. He’s not convinced, though.
“I’m not sold on it yet,” he said. “I like 170 because I can do it quick. But if I want to be competitive and be the best in the world, it’s gonna be at 155. I know the teammates I have and I know how Tyron Woodley feels when I spar with him, I know how Ben Askren feels when I spar with him, so I’ve been in with some of the best in the world at 170, and it’s a different fight. It’s not competition, it’s a different fight.”
