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Anthony Pettis: I Need to Prepare Better Mentally to be Successful Again

In 2011, the Ultimate Fighting Championship claimed a young prodigy by the name of Anthony Pettis from the World Extreme Cagefighting roster following a merger. At the time, Pettis was a feared striker with an enviable highlight reel including his memorable flying cage kick against Benson Henderson for the WEC lightweight title.

In his UFC debut in June 2011, he was matched up against the very durable and ultra-aggressive Clay Guida. “The Carpenter” edged out the victory on the night using his patented pressure to smother Pettis.

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After that fight, fight fans got to see the real “Showtime.” He recorded three straight wins over Jeremy Stephens, Joe Lauzon, Donald Cerrone before earning a title shot against Benson Henderson for the lightweight belt. Pettis submitted Henderson and went on to defend his newly acquired lightweight title against Gilbert Melendez.

Then there was a turning point in his career after he lost the lightweight title to Rafael dos Anjos in March 2015. It’s literally been a roller coaster ride after suffering four losses in his last six fights. He briefly experimented in the featherweight division and claimed a victory over Charles Oliveira in August 2016 before an interim title fight with Max Holloway at UFC 206 in December 2016. Pettis was picked apart by the future champion, losing via TKO.

At lightweight, he found immediate success with a unanimous-decision win over Jim Miller at UFC 213. However, that confidence quickly dissipated after a loss to Dustin Poirier in November last year at UFC Fight Night 120.

Now Pettis is scheduled to face another tough challenge in the form of Michael Chiesa at UFC 223. The former UFC lightweight champion recently talked with Ariel Helwani on “The MMA Hour” about his recent struggles.

“I’ve had some injuries in my fight career, but it was kinda just a dumb error,” Pettis explained Monday on The MMA Hour. “I didn’t clear the body triangle, I tried to twist out and I tore the cartilage in my ribs, so it was like a shock. I felt the pop and then I just didn’t know how bad it was until after the fight when I got x-rays.”

“Honestly, I’m the biggest critic of myself, [more so] than anybody [else] is,” Pettis said. “Everybody’s opinion is what they see in fights. They don’t see my training camps. They don’t see the stuff I go through to get to these fights. For me, even the Miller fight wasn’t a great performance. I mean, I did well. It wasn’t the best performance. I just feel like it’s kind of a mental [issue].

“I will be back there, it’s just a matter of time,” Pettis added. “I won’t stay down forever. Obviously I’m still pushing, I’m still training, I’m still in the gym, I’m still getting better and I’ve just got to show it in my fights now. That’s the big thing. It’s something to do with that mental mindset. Honestly, for the Poirier fight, I warmed up at like 3 p.m. [and felt good] before the fight. If I would’ve fought Poirier at 3 p.m., I would’ve smoked him. And then, coming out at midnight when we fought out there, I just was flat. It was like a mental thing again, so that’s what I’m trying to figure out.”

“The theory that I had going into those last couple fights is that I [needed to stop] chasing, trying to be chasing that gold,” Pettis said. “I was trying to get that belt immediately. It was, ‘Next fight, who’s the next fight to get me to the belt, who’s the next fight to get me to the belt?’ [But I need to be] just fixing the holes in my games, and it’s just a mental thing, I guess, just getting my mental preparation better. I’m just going in there no matter what’s going on in my camp, whether I feel good or if I don’t feel good, just going out there, turning it on for 15 minutes and having a good performance.

“I’m not in this to be a gatekeeper,” Pettis added. “I’m not in this to have guys make their name off of me. I’ve been the best in the world. I know I can do it, it’s just taking my time and getting back there the right way.”
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