In what was his Featherweight debut at UFC on Fox 21 earlier this year, Anthony Pettis tipped the scales right on the 145-pound mark.
Unfortunately, his second attempt didn’t go as smooth, as “Showtime” came in three pounds over the weight limit for his interim Featherweight title fight against Max Holloway, which headlined last weekend’s (Sat., Dec. 10, 2016) UFC 206 event in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White, though not too pleased with Pettis missing weight, says Anthony did try his hardest to hit his mark.
“I’m not happy, but listen, it happens,” UFC president Dana White said Friday on TSN SportsCentre. “Believe me when I tell you, Anthony Pettis wanted to make weight. He’s been working for months for this day. He came in, when he landed here in Toronto, he was 10 pounds (over), so he should’ve made the weight. What that tells you is he’s too old and he’s too big to make that weight, is my opinion. So we’ll see where we go from here.”
Thankfully, the headlining fight still went on as planned…
In addition to losing out on 20-percent of his purse, Pettis also lost the bout, and in doing so, forfeiting an opportunity to fight division champion Jose Aldo.
“If Pettis wins, I’ve got to decide if I want him to fight for the 145-pound (title),” White said before the fight. “I don’t know if he can make the weight.”
That puts a damper in Anthony’s plans to become the promotion’s next multi-division champion. Unless, of course, he tries his luck at Welterweight. Nevertheless, it will be an interesting to see just what the future hold for Pettis