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In the early months of 2015, Anthony Pettis was on top of the world. He had become the World Extreme Cagefighting lightweight champion and a bona fide superstar with his spectacular “Showtime” kick. After the WEC folded and he suffered a setback to Clay Guida in his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut, he went on one of the greatest runs in the history of the lightweight division, winning a split decision against Jeremy Stephens before finishing Joe Lauzon, Donald Cerrone, Benson Henderson and Gilbert Melendez.
To make the first quarter of 2015 even more special, it had just been announced that he was going to appear on the Wheaties box -- the first MMA fighter to receive the honor. He was joining the likes of Michael Jordan and Muhammad Ali as Wheaties athletes. As the UFC prepared to enter the mainstream through its broadcast deal with Fox, Pettis was doing the same. He was on the verge of becoming a transcendent star, the likes of which MMA has rarely seen.
Now, a little over three years later, it never happened. The Wheaties box represented not the start of Pettis’ entry into popular culture but the high point of his career. Shortly after the Wheaties’ box announcement, he was routed by Rafael dos Anjos, who was in the middle of his own historic lightweight run. The jury is still out on whether dos Anjos showed others how to beat Pettis or if age and injuries finally sapped his explosiveness. Nevertheless, at the end of UFC 185, the magic was gone from “Showtime.”
It hasn’t gotten much better lately. Pettis is currently trying to bounce back from a submission loss to Dustin Poirier. He’s in the midst of his second stay in the lightweight division after an ill-fated detour to 145 pounds, where he became the first fighter since Travis Lutter in 2007 to miss weight for a UFC championship fight. Of course, he only went to the featherweight division after losing his 155-pound championship to dos Anjos and going on a three-fight losing streak.
That’s what makes his fight against ninth-ranked Michael Chiesa at UFC 223 (now available on Amazon Prime) so compelling. It wasn’t quite as precipitous as Roger Huerta’s fall from gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated to going on a four-fight losing skid and bouncing around smaller promotions, but Pettis’ fall has been staggering in its own right. He went from being the top guy, to losing to top guys, to losing to people near the top. A loss to Chiesa would represent a new low point for Pettis, likely sending him tumbling to the bottom of the lightweight rankings.
Don’t get it wrong. Even he loses, Pettis is probably far from being cut from the UFC roster, if for no other reason than Bellator MMA would love to have him. However, he would be a 31-year-old with a history of knee injuries, unranked and looking at having to stave off the young killers in the sport’s deepest division.
Even if Pettis were to eventually work his way back into the top 10, it’s hard to picture a better top-10 opponent for him than Chiesa. It’s a very good stylistic matchup for a fighter who has already lost to three of the men entrenched in the top 10: Poirier, Eddie Alvarez and Edson Barboza. Plus, Chiesa is about the only top lightweight not renowned for his wrestling, striking or durability -- qualities that set up poorly for Pettis. Even if he managed to get in the top 10, it’s hard to imagine he would be there long.
If Pettis wins, Chiesa would be the most talented lightweight Pettis has beaten since his rematch with Henderson, and more importantly, it would show he can still hang with the best fighters in the division. All of a sudden, his recent losses wouldn’t look so bad, as they’d certainly be explained away. He had no business competing at featherweight, and there’s no shame in losing to guys like dos Anjos, Alvarez, Barbosa and Poirier. Winning against a talented fighter like Chiesa would prove he belongs in that echelon of fighters.
It wouldn’t quite be akin to Tito Ortiz’s upset of Ryan Bader for a number of reasons, but a victory at UFC 223 would certainly breathe new life into Pettis’ storied career. With a win, Pettis would be vaulted into the top 10 and put in line to fight a top contender, potentially in a rematch with Alvarez or against the winner of the upcoming Lee-Barboza fight. He’d be two or three appearances away from challenging for the belt and would most likely be completing exclusively in co-main or main events. He’d be back to relevance in his proper division. All he needs is to leave the cage with his hand raised.
Pressley Nietering is a third-year student at Clemson University.
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