#5 Anthony Pettis
Trending
Anthony Pettis has a finesse in his striking that only comes from years of hard work on the pads with a heavily scrutinising eye of a respected mentor. Pettis found himself as a protégée under Kickboxing legend Duke Roufus, who helped shape Pettis to become an exceptionally dominant and feared striker with tremendously underrated submission skills on his rise to the top.
Having finished the likes of Donald Cerrone, Benson Henderson and Gilbert Melendez, Pettis was almost unstoppable on his way to capturing the UFC Lightweight title. He was also the first UFC fighter to be featured on a box of Wheaties; an unusual achievement to list but something that was testament to the rising popularity of Pettis and the sport of MMA.
Get the latest updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and more
The seemingly smooth transition to the top, however, changed into an uphill battle for the ages that saw Anthony Pettis struggle with high-level grapplers such as Rafael Dos Anjos and Eddie Alvarez. This was when Pettis decided to acquire the services of Jon Jones' wrestling coach Izzy Martinez to work on his takedown defence and power play in the clinch.
The next time Anthony would face an opponent in the Octagon, conversely, was one that would test his striking more than the wrestling.
In a failed attempt to snap the losing streak, Pettis looked extremely washed out against fellow striking phenom in Edson Barboza whose speed and variety while delivering strikes was extremely apparent.
After three decision losses, Pettis decided to move down to Featherweight and ended up submitting submission specialist Charles Oliviera, a win that Pettis desperately required to avoid being cut by the organisation in which he was the kingpin not so long ago.
After the range of problems UFC 206 went through, which included UFC being unable to book GSP, the cancellation of Cormier vs. Johnson 2 due to the former’s injury, Conor Mcgregor had to be stripped of the Featherweight Championship to save the day, and in the process, Pettis got gifted a free opportunity to fight for the Interim Featherweight title.
A very unlikely yet desirable twist of fate for Pettis, but as fate would have it, to make things more complicated, Pettis failed to make weight for the first time on the most important opportunity of his career to become a potential two division champion.
As an extremely disappointed Pettis entered the Octagon, it sure affected the way he performed as he saw himself being a little too hesitant, flinching and over analysing the attacks that were once second nature to him.
His adversary, Max Holloway capitalised on the situation as Pettis saw himself being out struck with a healthy mixture of striking and continued pressure; a perennial weakness of Pettis. A weakness that ended up costing Pettis the gold. Pettis could possibly use some psychological help along with his usual training to combatively get rid of the slump that he has been in. A decision that he needs to act upon urgently.
For latest MMA news, spoilers and rumours visit our Sportskeeda MMA section.
