Pettis makes second title defense in three months at UFC 185
Anthony Pettis has long possessed about 99 percent of the package needed to become a mixed martial arts superstar.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion’s missing 1 percent? A propensity for injury, which has robbed him of the momentum needed to become a household name.
But he seems to be turning the corner on that count. Pettis (18-2) will defend his championship against a resurgent Rafael dos Anjos (23-7) tonight in the main event of UFC 185 in Dallas, marking his second title defense in three months.
“I want to be an active champion,” Pettis said. “I want to fight every three or four months. I know what my doubters have said, and I have a little bit of a chip on my shoulder hearing them.”
Pettis, who has won nine of his past 10 fights, boasts a wide array of highlight-reel strikes and a lightning-quick finishing instinct. In his most recent fight Dec. 6 in UFC 181 at Mandalay Bay, after losing the first round, Pettis seized upon a split-second opening to submit veteran Gilbert Melendez in the second. It was the first stoppage loss in the former longtime Strikeforce champ’s career.
That marked Pettis’ first bout in 16 months, as he underwent knee surgery after submitting Benson Henderson for the title at UFC 164 in August 2013 in Pettis’ hometown of Milwaukee. He also missed almost a year because of injury in 2012.
“I have so much more I can prove,” Pettis said. “I know the talk about leaving a legacy is sort of a cliche, but I want to be remembered as one of the sport’s most dominant champions.”
Next in line in Pettis’ attempt at legacy building is dos Anjos, a Rio de Janeiro native who trains part time in Orange County, Calif.
A UFC mainstay since 2008, dos Anjos split his first eight fights in the UFC. But he’s 8-1 since, including victories over Donald Cerrone, Henderson and Nate Diaz. The latter victory was a one-sided beatdown Dec. 13 in Phoenix in dos Anjos’ most recent fight.
Tonight’s co-feature is the first defense of the newly created 115-pound women’s strawweight championship, as Carla Esparza (10-2) meets Joanna Jedrzejczyk (8-0).
Esparza, the former strawweight champion of the all-women’s Invicta promotion, won the title in a tournament conducted through the UFC’s “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show, defeating Rose Namajunas in the finals Dec. 12 at the Palms.
Jedrzejczyk scored an upset victory over highly touted Claudia Gadelha in a down-and-dirty brawl on the Dec. 13 Phoenix card to earn the title shot.
This is a classic grappler vs. striker matchup. Esparza, nicknamed “The Cookie Monster,” is a former collegiate wrestling champion, and Jedrzejczyk boasts one-punch knockout power.
Esparza recently complained to MMAFighting.com that the UFC is not properly promoting their fight.
“To be honest, I don’t think our specific fight is being promoted as much as it should be,” Esparza said. “It is what it is. I’m gonna just keep winning fights and then those things will come.”
In a main-card welterweight bout of note, former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks (19-3) returns to action against Matt Brown (19-12).
Hendricks lost the title to Robbie Lawler at UFC 181 on a debatable split decision. He attributed the loss, in part, to a brutal weight cut leading up to the bout.
For this bout, Hendricks, who used to let his weight climb to 210 between fights, 40 pounds above the welterweight limit, never let his weight get over 195.
In Brown, he meets one of the division’s toughest outs. Brown is also coming off a loss to Lawler, dropping a decision last summer to end his seven-fight win streak.
“I’m trying to steal the show from the main events, you know what I mean?” said Hendricks, a Dallas native. “I’m a talented fighter, and Matt is a talented, exciting fighter, and I think I can give the hometown fans something to remember.”
