Bellator president Scott Coker plans on speaking to newly minted free agent Anthony Pettis.
Pettis (24-10), a former UFC and WEC lightweight champion, completed his UFC contract this past weekend with a unanimous decision win over Alex Morono at UFC Fight Night 183. On Tuesday, “Showtime” announced he was officially testing the market and indicated his UFC tenure is likely to be a thing of the past.
Similar to any notable free agent, Coker intends on exploring the possibility of bringing Pettis into the fold. However, he said certain elements need to be evaluated, from the financial aspect to potential matchups and, most importantly, a judgement on how much Pettis still has to give at age 33 and with nearly 14 years in the game.
“I’m sure my guys are already talking to their camps, and we’ll have a conversation,” Coker told MMA Junkie on Tuesday. “Level (of interest) is sometimes based on the business deal because there has to be a certain value there based on the price, and really that’s what it comes down to: Is the value worth what we think of the fights we can put together for him?
“Really it’s like, how much does he have left in the gas tank? But we’ll definitely have that conversation, and we usually have that conversation with every free agent, whether we sign them or not. We’ll probably do the same thing with Pettis if we haven’t already done it.”
With the ability to fight at both lightweight and welterweight, it seems Pettis could be a serviceable addition to the Bellator roster. His younger brother Sergio Pettis is already signed the promotion and is expected to challenge Juan Archuleta for the bantamweight belt in 2021. Coker said his team will run over the idea of signing the older Pettis and did admit there could be a fight that piques his interest.
When proposed with the possibility of Pettis joining Bellator for a showdown with fellow flashy striker Michael Page, Coker liked the idea. However, he reiterated it’s going to come down to whether everything makes sense for both sides.
“(Pettis vs. ‘MVP’) would be a lot of fun,” Coker said. “That would be amazing. We’ll see. There’s only so many slots on TV for us. We’ll be having 22 to 26 fights (in 2021), and it’ll all be mapped out sometime in the next three weeks and we’ll figure it out. We’ll have a conversation and see where it goes.”
