Anthony Pettis Meets Charles Oliveira In Featherweight Debut

Former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis is making a big move professionally, as he will be leaving the 155-pound division and is headed to the 145-pound division (featherweight) for his next fight. It was announced on Wednesday (June 15, 2016) that Pettis will fight No. 7-ranked featherweight Charles Oliveira at the UFC Fight Night event in Vancouver on August 27.

Pettis (18-5) has struggled mightily as of late, dropping his last three including his most recent decision loss to Edson Barboza at UFC 197. The move to featherweight is a much-needed attempt to rejuvenate his flailing career.

“Anthony Pettis is dropping down to featherweight to face Charles Oliveira, and “Showtime” is always a highlight reel guy, and so is Oliveira. That’s going to be a great fight. We haven’t even announced the main event yet, and the main event’s going to be very interesting too,” UFC executive vice president Tom Wright told FOX Sports on Wednesday.

“I’ve seen both these guys fight live, and they don’t know how to have boring fights. It’s really going to be interesting to see what (Pettis) does at featherweight, and you know how the UFC is. We don’t give anybody a mulligan or a give me, so his debut is against one of the best in the division. It’s going to be awesome.”

The event will air live on FOX from the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada.

The UFC is expected to add more bouts to this event in the coming weeks.