Anthony Pettis hopes he can get fans excited for his fights again.
Pettis once ruled the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) lightweight division. While he didn’t have a long reign, “Showtime’s” fighting style had fans on the edge of their seats nearly every outing. The former champion has seen better days as he’s gone 1-4 in his last five bouts.
He’ll look to bounce back from a TKO loss to Max Holloway when he meets Jim Miller this Saturday night (July 8) on the main card of UFC 213. Pettis admitted to MMAJunkie.com that he had forgotten a crucial aspect in the fight game:
“I honestly went away from the wrestling. I just went and focused on what I was good at: striking. A lot of striking this camp. A lot of jiu-jitsu. I think the wrestling is always there. But I’d just put that in my head, that I had to get better at it, to get better at it. I was just too focused on wrestling, and that took away from all the other parts of my game.”
Pettis’ immediate goal is to get fans pumped for his fights as much as they used to be.
“I think with (lightweight champ) Conor McGregor doing the Floyd Mayweather fight, it kind of throws the division up. So there’s room for guys to change that landscape. But, at this point around, this is my first fight back at 155. I’ve just got to go make a statement. (I’ve) got to make people want to watch me fight again.”
