LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 9: Anthony Pettis stands in the Octagon prior to his bout against Jim Miller in their lightweight bout during the UFC 213 event at T-Mobile Arena on July 9, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
Anthony Pettis interested in Tony Ferguson rematch following UFC Vegas 17 win
After extending his winning streak to two with a unanimous decision victory over Alex Morono on Saturday night, former WEC and UFC lightweight champion Anthony “Showtime” Pettis expressed his interest in a rematch with Tony Ferguson.
“I think Tony makes sense, man,” Pettis said at the post-fight press conference (Via MMAJunkie). “Coming off his two losses, and he’s fighting tough dudes, and that’s what I hate about this sport. Guys are like, ‘Tony’s done.’ He’s a dangerous dude, but that would be a good fight for me to jump back into the lightweight mix.”
Having fought at welterweight in his previous two outings, Pettis told UFC commentator Daniel Cormier following his victory over Morono that his goal was to return to 155 pounds and attempt to reclaim the title.
If Anthony Pettis is indeed set on dropping back down in weight, a rematch between him and Ferguson may make sense. The two first fought at UFC 229 in October 2018 where Ferguson scored a second-round TKO victory. “El Cucuy” has hit some rough times as of late, losing one-sided fights to Justin Gaethje and Charles Oliveira, but as Pettis said, he could still serve as a tough test to determine where Pettis ranks at lightweight.
The only issue with this idea, however, is that Saturday night’s bout against Morono marked the final fight of Pettis’ contract with the UFC. UFC President Dana White made waves recently when he announced that the promotion would soon be cutting a rather large amount of fighters, making the futures of all those under contract a bit unknown.
If it was up to “Showtime”, who has competed in the UFC for nearly a decade, he admits that he “would love to fight” for the promotion going forward, though he isn’t “attached” to one idea or the other.
“I’m going to take the holiday off, honestly,” Pettis told ESPN. “That was the last fight on my UFC contract, and I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m open to see what they come back at me at.
“My little brother’s outside of the UFC now, and it’s one of those things like I’m not attached to anything anymore. I’m taking one fight at a time. My goal is to be the best version of myself. Obviously, the UFC is where the best guys are at, so I would love to fight in this organization still. But we’ll see what happens. Contracts negotiations are something that happens outside of my world. I still have an agent to take care of that.”
