Anthony Pettis’ career was on the line at UFC on FOX: Maia vs. Condit.
‘Showtime’ lost his lightweight title to Rafael dos Anjos last year and fans began to question his status as an elite-level fighter after he suffered back-to-back losses to Eddie Alvarez and Edson Barboza.
The former champ needed to change things, desperately.
For the first time in his career, Pettis changed weight classes and made the drop to featherweight in an effort to reinvent himself as a fighter. It just might have done the trick.
It was a back-and-forth affair, but Pettis managed to submit No. 6 ranked featherweight opponent Charles Oliveira in the third round with a guillotine choke.
At the post-fight press conference, the 29-year-old spoke of how much of a relief it was to get the win and re-establish himself as a serious contender.
"I didn't really know if I could make the weight to be honest," Pettis said in the post-fight conference, per Danny Segura of MMA Fighting. "I was like, '146, I've never seen it before'. But we made the weight. Now, I'll map it out, and figure out where I want to go. It just feels good to be back in the winning column."
The Duke Roufus product, who is most noted for his flying kick off the cage against Benson Henderson in the WEC, said he had to do a lot of soul searching prior to UFC on FOX 21 and was forced to reassess his motives.
Pettis is now more motivated than ever to capture the 145-pound title and become a two-division world champion.
"I had a rough patch," Pettis said. "I mean [losing] three fights in a row, you know, I wasn't used to that. I had two losses my whole career, and going three back-to-back, I had to do some soul searching. I had to figure out what drives me, what makes me want to do this, and I went through a lot of stuff. I have to thank my family, my girlfriend, everyone that was around me that kept me focused and that made me keep pushing. I felt like we pushed through. We got a new division, a new goal: two-division champ. And that's what I'm set out to do."
If Pettis is serious about title contention, the Milwaukee-born fighter could take on Max Holloway in his next bout, who is now on a 9-fight win streak and has established himself as one of the best featherweights in the world.