Anthony Pettis has become a mainstay on the main card of UFC Fight Nights and pay per views. After all, he is a former lightweight champion, so that is to be expected. His younger brother Sergio Pettis, on the other hand, despite being ranked #2 in the world at flyweight, continues to be overlooked when the promotion is looking for names to be featured on the “A-card.” This has not gone unnoticed by big brother, who is fed up with the UFC’s treatment of Sergio Pettis: (Via MMAmania.com):
“UFC, I don’t know what Sergio has to do to get on the main card. He’s No. 2 in the world fighting No. 5 or No. 6 in the world and they are fighting on the undercard,” said Anthony on a recent edition of Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show.
“Show the kid some respect, he’s busting his ass, and I see how hard he’s working. It’s kind of offensive to see him on the undercard.”
Sergio Pettis’s next fight will be at the UFC 229 pay per view, which if there ever was a time for Sergio to hope to be placed on the main card, it would have been at this event, which Dana White has projected will do over 2 million buys. Even though Anthony Pettis is speaking up for his little brother, make no mistake, Sergio Pettis has been making his own name for himself as the winner of five of his last six, including two-time title challenger Joseph Benavidez, who had previously only loss to the great Demetrious Johnson.
The only setback during this run for Pettis was to the new flyweight champion Henry Cejudo. Awaiting Pettis at UFC 229 will be #5 ranked Jussier Formiga. Coincidentally, Anthony Pettis will be on this card as well, and he will once again be on the main card, the co-main event no less, when he battles Tony “El Cucuy” Ferguson. Unfortunately, we will not see two brothers on the same main card in what would be a historic moment shared by the Pettis family.
Does Anthony Pettis have a legitimate gripe? Are the UFC disrespecting Sergio Pettis?
