Anthony Pettis Win Streak Leading to Tony Ferguson Next?

First Anthony Pettis Win Streak Since 2014

Lightweight title Run and Rise to Fame

After landing the famous “cage kick” in his five-round WEC title fight with Benson Henderson the WEC merged with the UFC. Pettis would join the roster and drop his first fight with the organization to Clay Guida. After losing to Guida, Anthony Pettis would start his run to the top of the lightweight division with a win over Jeremy Stephens. He would then follow his win over Stephens with two consecutive Knockout of the Night bonuses for his first-round wins over Joe Lauzon and Donald Cerrone respectively. Pettis would then fight Benson Henderson again this time for the UFC lightweight title. He won the fight by armbar in the first round to win the title.

Return to Earth

The flashy champ’s crazy run of exciting finishes over quality opponents would come to an end when he would meet Rafael Dos Anjos in 2015 and lose a unanimous decision along with his belt. After losing his belt the former lightweight champ would drop two more in a row to Eddie Alvarez and Edson Barboza. Anthony Pettis saw himself go from champion to being on the outside looking into the title picture at lightweight in a matter of thirteen months.

Drop to Featherweight

After finding himself solidly on the outside of the lightweight title picture Anthony Pettis would drop to the featherweight division. The former lightweight king would have a short tenure at the featherweight division. He would win one of his two bouts at 145 by guillotine in a fight with Charles Oliviera. His other fight would not go as well though failing first on the scales coming in at 148 pounds for his title bout with Max Holloway. The fight itself would see Pettis make it three of the five championship rounds it was scheduled for. During the bout, the former lightweight breaks his hand in the second and eventually is stopped with a right body kick and flurry of punches from Max.

Return to Lightweight

After missing weight for his title bout with Max Holloway and getting stopped in the third round, the once king of the lightweight division would return with hopes of making a run back to his throne. The return to 155 wouldn’t go as planned. Anthony Pettis would win two fights and lose two, before going to welterweight. During this stretch of time, Pettis beat Jim Miller by unanimous decision and defeated Michael Chiesa by armbar. The dark side of this time for the former WEC superstar would see him submit to Dustin Poirer via body triangle. To end this stretch, Pettis would break both of his hands in his legendary bout with Tony Ferguson that ended with his corner stopping the fight.

Defying Expectations at Welterweight

After having mixed results at 155, Anthony Pettis would make the move to welterweight in a seemingly puzzling bout with welterweight striking master Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. Thompson appeared to be a much larger man, had fought his whole career at 170 pounds, and stepped into the octagon as a -350 favorite. The first two rounds of the fight would see Thompson land a considerable amount of kicks and straight punches up until the very end of the second. Pettis timed wonderboy’s reset off of his sidekick and knocked him out cold with a huge right hand. Following this shocking upset Pettis would once again defy expectations by dropping his next bout to slight underdog Nate Diaz by UD.

Start of Win Streak

After losing at 155 to Carlos Diego Ferreira, he would end his losing streak against Donald Cerrone, winning by unanimous decision. He would then face Alex Morono at the UFC last Saturday. Anthony Pettis slipped seconds into the first and got his back taken, but survived with hand fighting. He would eventually turn in a body triangle to get on top. Morono would attempt a triangle, lose his guard, and stand. He attempts to take Pettis down leading to a scramble. Pettis wins top to end the first. Pettis controlled the second round with accurate striking and good footwork. In the third, Pettis would win top in a scramble with Morono and dominate the rest of the round to win a UD.

Comeback and Tony Ferguson Rematch

Now on a two-fight win streak, Anthony Pettis has shown off his complete arsenal of impressive skills in his last two fights. The currently 12th ranked welterweight in the UFC has expressed his interest in returning to lightweight. He has expressed interest in a rematch with Tony Ferguson as well. Tony is coming off of two losses at 155 to Justin Gaethje and Charles Oliviera and defeated Anthony in their last bout. The rematch of the original fight of the night is undeniably an exciting fight on paper that many fans would probably love to see. With Anthony Pettis looking to fight his way back into title contention and Tony following two losses, the rematch of their exciting first bout looks plausible.

The Takeaway

Anthony Pettis had an exciting, storied career. He was the WEC lightweight champ and went viral for head-kicking Benson Henderson. He won the UFC lightweight title also against Henderson. He lost it to Rafael Dos Anjos in 2015 and bounced between lightweight, featherweight, welterweight with mixed results. Despite the losses, the former lightweight champ showed signs of life with big wins and ended a losing streak in May of 2020. He began his first winning streak in six years at the last UFC event. Perhaps the most interesting chapter of Anthony Pettis’ career is yet to be written, as his road to title contention in the division, he ruled now appears to go hand in hand with avenging his loss to Tony Ferguson.

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