Pettis to 145

gimmick

..and gets an immediate shot at Aldo.

http://www.mmajunkie.com/news/2013/02/anthony-pettis-drops-to-145-meets-ufc-featherweight-champ-jose-aldo-on-aug-3

While i totally agree the guy deserves a title shot, surely it should be in the division he earned it in - 155. What does this do to the FW division now? I would have thought that Zombie or Lamas would have been worth a shout at the title before someone who has dropped gets a go?

Seems a bit unfair to me but on the other hand - Pettis V Also August 3rd will be an incredible fight. And that is obviously at the forefront on the UFCs thought.

I know this is ion the chit chat thread, but felt it possibly deserved its own thread.

Xlami

This is the third time it's happened at 145 where a lightweight gets a title shot straight away. You can argue with the reasons behind one but I really feel sorry for guys like Lamas, Swanson etc. Also I heard Duke Roufus say about a year ago that Pettis could go to 145 but didn;t want to disrupt Erik Koch and his run in the division. So maybe his loss is just as much the reason for seeing him move down.

Shazbot

Xlami wrote: »

This is the third time it's happened at 145 where a lightweight gets a title shot straight away.

In fairness to Florian, he had to get past Nunes before getting a shot at Aldo. I saw the attraction of Frankie dropping to 145 for a shot at the belt, he's a former champ who was literally punching above his weight. I read during the week that Pettis walks around quite light for a lightweight, only cutting 1 or 2 pounds of water weight. So maybe this is a move to his "natural weight".

I can't get my head around the timing issue though. The fight is in August and Bendo is fighting in April. It would be a similar wait for Pettis for either fight so why not fight Henderson in a rematch?

As with most, I feel sorry for guys like Lamas, Korean Zombie, Chad mendes etc who will have to wait even longer. Although it does set up a nice fight between Lamas and Korean Zombie.

Who then gets a shot at Bendo in the summer? Maynard v Jim Miller for a contender shot?

At the end of the day, Aldo vs Pettis is going to an amazing fight.

adamski8

I dont see a problem, near #1 contender drops a division and we get to see a great fight.

Most times guys drop a division is because they have lost a few, so obviously they have to work there way up.

Thecageyone

It'll be a cracker.

As for other fighters getting stepped over, no worse than Johny Hendrix being stepped over by Diaz to have a pop at GSP.

Mellor

Sure i feel for the lieks of Zombie and other 145ers on a run, but the reality is that Pettis is far better than these guys and as soon as he announces he's in the 145 any ranking based on ability has him at no.1 contender. Simple as that.