Anthony Pettis

Anthony Paul Pettis (born January 27, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist.

Pettis formerly fought in the Welterweight, Lightweight, and Featherweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Professional Fighters League (PFL).

He is a former UFC Lightweight Champion.

Pettis was also the final WEC Lightweight Champion prior to the promotion being merged into the UFC.

Pettis was born on January 27, 1987, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Annette (née Garcia) and Eugene Pettis Jr. He grew up in the south side of Milwaukee, along with his older brother, Reynaldo Pettis and younger brother, Sergio Pettis, who fights in the flyweight division.

Pettis is of Mexican ancestry.

His grandfather, Eugenio Pérez, anglicized the family name from Pérez to Pettis to avoid discrimination.

Pettis attended Dominican High School.

He started training in taekwondo and boxing at the age of 5.

When he went to train mixed martial arts at Roufusport, he already had a 3rd degree black belt in taekwondo.

He later trained in capoeira.

On November 12, 2003, Pettis' father was stabbed to death by a robber at a friend's house.

Pettis felt detached as a result and didn't practice martial arts for several years.

After his older brother became the first male in the family to graduate high school, Pettis was encouraged by a school nun to enroll at the Kenosha Fire Academy and subsequently became a firefighter.

Pettis began training in MMA in 2006 after an open house at Roufusport MMA Academy.

After compiling a 3-0 record as an amateur, he made his professional MMA debut in January 2007 and won via submission in 36 seconds.

Pettis compiled a record of 8–0 in all fights being held by Adam Sandoval and Duke Roufus before debuting with the World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), winning the Gladiator Fighting Series Lightweight Championship.

His last fight before joining the WEC was a short notice welterweight bout.

Pettis also has a professional kickboxing background.

In MMA, Pettis is known for his smooth and technical fighting style, as well as his athletic feats and wide range of techniques.

Pettis was coached by kickboxer and MMA trainer Duke Roufus and is a member of Roufusport where he trained with fighters Alan Belcher, Erik Koch, Ben Rothwell, Ben Askren, and Danny Downes.

Before joining the WEC, Pettis went to The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom tryouts but did not make it to the show.

Pettis was expected to make his promotional debut against Anthony Njokuani on April 5, 2009, at WEC 40.

However, Pettis pulled out of the fight with a hand injury and was replaced by Bart Palaszewski.

Pettis made his WEC debut at WEC 41 on June 7, 2009, where he defeated Mike Campbell via first-round triangle choke.

He was then expected to fight Rob McCullough at WEC 44 on November 18, 2009, but was pulled off the card with an undisclosed injury.

Pettis suffered his first professional loss on December 19, 2009, at WEC 45, dropping a split decision to Bart Palaszewski.

Pettis rebounded from the loss with a head-kick KO victory over Danny Castillo on March 6, 2010, at WEC 47, earning Knockout of the Night honors.

Training for the fight, as well as Pettis's family life, were both documented on an episode of the MTV show World of Jenks.

Pettis suffered almost no damage in the bout with Castillo and made a quick return at WEC 48 on April 24, 2010, against Alex Karalexis, replacing Zack Micklewright on short notice.

He won the fight via submission in the second round.

Pettis faced Shane Roller on August 18, 2010, at WEC 50.

Pettis surprised many by taking down Roller multiple times and frustrating him with fast-paced scrambles.

Pettis displayed diversity in his striking with two Capoeira kicks, the martelo and the aú batido.

After several submission attempts, Pettis secured a fight-ending triangle choke in the closing seconds of the fight, earning a Submission of the Night bonus.

His last WEC fight came against Benson Henderson on December 16, 2010, at WEC 53 for the WEC Lightweight Championship.

The fight was closely contested throughout, providing back and forth action, both standing and on the ground.

Late in the fifth round Pettis ran up the cage, jumped off it, then connected with a flying switch kick that knocked down Henderson.

Sports reporters later named this the Showtime Kick.

Pettis won the fight via unanimous decision (48–47, 49–46, 48–47) to become the final WEC Lightweight Champion.