Watch: Anthony Pettis adds another spectacular kick to his UFC highlight reel vs Alex Morono

Former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis put on a spectacular performance at UFC Vegas 17.

In the final fight on his current UFC contract, Anthony Pettis emerged victorious over a tough and crafty Alex Morono.

Anthony Pettis almost added another impressive KO to his highlight reel

The initial stages of the fight witnessed both fighters trying to gauge the distance and land the better shots without overextending themselves.

Anthony Pettis threw a kick at Alex Morono but slipped up and ended up being controlled on the ground by Morono. Pettis, to his credit, survived the submission attempts made by Morono throughout these grappling exchanges.

Fire up the highlight reels! 🎞️🎥 @ShowtimePettis and 🦈 @AlexMoronoMMA close our #UFCVegas17 prelims LIVE on @ESPN and #ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/p3b90PsBwy

— UFC (@ufc) December 18, 2020

The fight got back to the feet and this was when Anthony Pettis truly began to display his outstanding striking skills. Pettis appeared to have a speed advantage on the feet against Morono.

Most strikes that Morono threw were expertly dealt with by Pettis who utilized his excellent footwork to slide away from the trajectory of the strikes and minimize their impact.

Towards the latter half of the fight, Anthony Pettis once again found himself in a grappling exchange that could’ve turned the tide in favor of Morono.

Nevertheless, despite being controlled briefly, Pettis reversed positions and stayed strategic in his approach as regards the grappling exchanges.

The most discussed moment of this fight, however, came when Pettis landed a beautiful spinning heel kick that rocked Morono.

This kick landed by Pettis on Morono’s head almost finished him. But Morono fought tooth and nail to hang on till the final bell, owing to which the fight’s outcome was decided by the judges’ scorecards.

WHAT A CLOSE FROM SHOWTIME! 🎥 #UFCVegas17 pic.twitter.com/9hljGB2xam

— UFC (@ufc) December 20, 2020

After three entertaining rounds of back and forth action – and Anthony Pettis almost adding another KO to his already amazing highlight reel – the judges declared Pettis the winner via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

Anthony Pettis has now asserted that he intends to move back down to the lightweight division and recapture the UFC lightweight title he once held.