Respect

Good for Tony Pettis. Saturday night could have been really bad for Anthony Pettis. Instead of the worst case scenario, Pettis moved up in weight and slept a former number one contender to the throne. When Showtime Pettis is on there still may be no more exciting fighter in the game. Sorry about your luck Stephen Thompson, but Showtime got you on this one. Not only did Anthony Pettis win at UFC Nashville, he did something pretty cool after knocking out Wonderboy. He paid respects. It was old school. It was very martial arts and it was a nice change pace. The 'act like you've been their before' crowd is one of the worst subsection of sport's fandom. How can a fan tell the top one percent of human athletic achievers how to act when they accomplish something freaking amazing? Pettis has been there before, in both ways. Showtime has reached the highest peaks of MMA fighting and the lowest lows. He's been at the top of the mountain, posed for a pictured then tumbled to his doom as he slipped on a rock. Seeing Pettis the react the way he did after ending Thompson was peak Showtime. Superman punch off the cage? Violent knockout? A whole new weight division? Meh, it's whatever when your Tony Pettis. Check out below for that brief moment in time where Pettis bowed at the body of his fallen foe. MMA is about a lot of wild off the wall stuff, but it may also be about this. Whatever this is, maybe MMA needs more of it.

Respect

Video: That time a bloody Anthony Pettis bowed before the unconscious body of Stephen Thompson