Former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis has lost five of his last seven fights and is coming off a November loss to fellow 155-pound contender Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC Fight Night 120.
Pettis never bounce back after he lost the lightweight title to Rafael dos Anjos in March 2015 and since then his career is on a roller coaster.
During a recent episode of the MMA Hour, Pettis revealed his recent struggles and injury during the Poirier fight:
“I’ve had some injuries in my fight career, but it was kinda just a dumb error,” Pettis said (via MMA Fighting). “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.”
“It probably was [one of my worst training camps],” he continued. “That bad. There was a lot of personal stuff that was going on in that camp that, it threw my mental off.”
“Any little errors in your camp can reflect in the fight and that’s what happened, I think. I’ve been fighting for a long time, so I’ve known training camps don’t always go as planned but you try to make it as smooth as possible. That one wasn’t.”
Pettis was optimistic that he is focused on getting back on track.
“I will be back there, it’s just a matter of time,” Pettis said. “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.”
“I’m not in this to be a gatekeeper,” he 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.”
Pettis will collide former TUF Micheal Chiesa at the UFC 223 pay-per-view (PPV) event on April 7th, in Brooklyn, New York.
