Anthony Pettis feeling rejuvenated before lightweight return at UFC 246

LAS VEGAS – Anthony Pettis most recently was seen inside the cage last August, coming out on the losing end of a hard-fought decision against Nate Diaz. According to the former UFC lightweight champion, many lessons were learned, and adjustments were made that night.

Pettis (22-9 MMA, 9-8 UFC) takes on Diego Ferreira (16-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) on Saturday at UFC 246 on the evening’s main card. The bout that will be contested at lightweight, the division where Pettis once ruled.

Why did Pettis drop back down the 155 pounds? Simply put, the Wisconsinite wanted to take some time off from weight cutting.

“I gave myself a year off from cutting weight,” Pettis told MMA Junkie at Thursday’s media day. “My choices were to take a year off completely because the ballooning (and) ballooning down was just hurting me or (I could) move up 170. I chose to go 170. I had some success, and I had some little bit of not success with the Diaz fight.

“The training camps, the mindset, and just the energy that I had in these fights? Oh, it felt so good. The reason I went back to 155 is my walk-around weight dropped about 12 to 15 pounds, so I was ready to start cutting down again.”

Pettis was feeling sharp during preparations. However, when it came time to compete in one of the highest profile fights of his career against Diaz, his mind wasn’t all there. Pettis’ mental was likely effected by a pre-fight drug test mishap, but lessons were still learned.

“I’m sitting in the back about to fight, and that happens,” Pettis said. “It’s chaos. It just taught me. Wins and losses – people are going to judge me no matter what. All it takes is two or three wins for me to be right back on top. … I broke my foot. I don’t kick checks. That’s not something I do. I kicked a check from Nate Diaz, and I broke my foot. It was just a mental error, and I saw it (afterward).

“You look at the ‘Wonderboy’ fight. I got my nose broke, but I stayed so true to my gameplan. You saw my forward pressure, hands high, low kick, low kick, low kick. In the Diaz fight, I’m switching stances, throwing haymakers. It was a mental loss.”

UFC 246 takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.

Check out MMA Junkie’s full UFC 246 pre-fight interview in the video above.