Lightweight champ Anthony Pettis "questioned everything" after surgery
UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis (17-2) is known for his high-flying and devastating style of fighting. He's run off four straight wins, and won the world title in his last bout, via first round submission.
However, there were times over the past year and a half where the Milwaukee native wondered if he would ever be the same "Showtime" again. After beating Benson Henderson for the UFC 155 pound title in his home town back in Aug. 2013, Pettis suffered a series of knee injuries that kept him out of training for half a year.
Pettis finally makes his first title defense this Saturday in Las Vegas, in the co-main event of UFC 181 against Gilbert Melendez (22-3), but while he was in the midst of his injury, the 27 year-old says that he doubted himself.
"Yeah, for sure," he tells FOX Sports.
"The week after surgery, you question everything. You go from being an elite athlete, in the best shape of your life to not even being able to walk to the bathroom on your own. It's a totally different mindset, and I had to go through a process of calming down.
"You blame yourself, you blame luck. But what it all comes down to is that injuries happen. Bodies are not made to kick and punch. I had never had knee injuries in my entire life, and then I have two injuries, both knees. It was bad luck."
Once Pettis had sat out for his doctor-prescribed amount of time, he got back into the gym and began to get his confidence back. "The psychological part outweighs the physical difficulty of being injured," he details.
"It was tough, psychologically because I couldn't fight, I couldn't defend my title, and I couldn't defend myself against people calling me out. I had to sit on the sidelines."
Once Pettis got back to kicking, however, his champion's swagger returned. "I started trusting my knee again, started kicking in June or July," he recounts.
"I just got back after it. After surgery they said six months no contact, but as soon as those months were up, we got back at it."
Though he initially doubted himself in the shadow of knee surgery, Pettis says he hasn't and won't change his style of training or fighting. Fans might then expect to see new tricks from the creative fighter against Melendez at UFC 181.
While that may end up being the case, Pettis insists that he strictly trains the basics. The "Showtime" stuff is a sort of spur of the moment jazz, on fight night.
"I stick to the basics in training, and improvise during the fight," he explains.
"I've always had that [flash]. I don't really work on it too much. I focus on the basics."
The champion hopes that his simple approach in training will lead to a similarly straight forward, and positive, result Saturday against Melendez. As he's said before, Pettis hopes to get his fourth straight first round win at UFC 181.
"I don't get paid for overtime," he says.
"I want to get in there, get the job done quick, and get out."
