Anthony Pettis Has No Timetable For Return, Wants To Fight Nate Diaz
A month ago Anthony “Showtime” Pettis was a superstar. He was being considered one of the best fighters in the world, receiving endless amounts of exposure, and getting all of the attention leading up to his second title defense at UFC 185. However, when fight night came, Pettis was shockingly dominated by now-champion Rafael dos Anjos.
Dos Anjos stunned the MMA world by dishing out a five-round beat down of Pettis, and stealing the belt in the process. Pettis was also quite banged up after the bout, suffering an eye injury, as well as a concussion.
So where does “Showtime” go from here? Although the former champion has no timetable for a return as of now, he does have an idea of who he would like to fight next. Speaking on a recent edition of the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Pettis voiced his desire to shut up an outspoken bad boy from Stockton:
“I haven’t thought about who I want to fight next. I can’t even say when I can fight next. But I would love to fight Nate Diaz. That’s a fight I’ve been waiting for, for a long time. If that’s next, I’m for sure down with that. I just gotta figure out when I’m able to fight again or when I can start even looking at dates to fight again.”
Diaz, who suffered a one-sided loss to dos Anjos himself last December, ironically had some verbal backlash for Pettis on twitter after he lost the belt. Although “Showtime” would like to settle this apparent rivalry with Diaz, it may not be the smartest bout for a contender looking to get his belt back.
Diaz is not currently ranked inside of the top-15 and a win for Pettis may not even be enough to warrant a rematch with dos Anjos in the crowded lightweight division. However, it could be a good tune up bout for “Showtime”, and definitely an exciting fight for the fans.
Who would you like to see Pettis take on when he returns?
