Anthony Pettis scheduled for December knee surgery
UFC lightweight champion Anthony “Showtime” Pettis faces a layoff and rehabilitation after scheduling surgery to address a torn posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
Pettis will go under the knife on Dec. 12 in Los Angeles, Ariel Helwani reported on Wednesday’s edition of UFC Tonight.
Pettis visited several doctors for different opinions before finally settling on his course of action. At one time, it was believed he would not need surgery.
As of now, no return timetable is set, although Pettis told Helwani that he guaranteed he’d be back by the summer.
The injury was suffered his championship win over Benson Henderson in August. The issue occurred when he attempted to check a kick early in the fight but didn’t get his leg up high enough, absorbing it with his knee.
Pettis had suffered an injury to his right knee earlier this
year, one that took him out of a proposed featherweight title fight
with Jose Aldo. That problem did not require surgery, and Pettis
healed in time to step in to the Henderson fight.
The 26-year-old Pettis is 17-2 with 14 finishes. During last
weekend’s UFC 167, he was in the corner of his 20-year-old
brother Sergio as they became the latest fraternal tandem to appear
in UFC bouts, joining others including the Diazes (Nick and Nate),
the Lauzons (Joe and Dan), the Nogueiras (Rodrigo and Rogerio) and
the Millers (Jim and Dan).
