Anthony Pettis clarifies why he is preventing Alex Morono at UFC Vegas 17

Former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis stated why he’s combating Alex Morono at UFC Vegas 17 in what was a surprising scheduling.

On Tuesday, ESPN’s Brett Okamoto described that Pettis vs. Morono will get place at UFC Vegas 17, which is established for December 19 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The card was at first set to be headlined by welterweights Leon Edwards and Khamzat Chimaev, but the battle was termed off after Edwards examined favourable for COVID-19. The new key function will see Stephen Thompson acquire on Geoff Neal for 5 rounds or fewer.

Speaking to ESPN, Pettis defined why he acknowledged the fight with Morono. On the surface area, this appears like a bit of a head scratcher as Pettis is a former UFC champion and a large name, furthermore he’s rated No. 12 at welterweight. Morono, in the meantime, is a good fighter in his have suitable, but him having the prospect to battle Pettis astonished a great deal of men and women. In accordance to “Showtime,” however, he just preferred to struggle when more this 12 months.

“I was truly trying to get a battle for a whilst now. My mentality has been so sharp. I have absent back again to currently being a pupil of the game and I truly feel myself transferring more than this plateau. I sense like I was plateaued for a when and it was just by no means-ending, but very last month I went to Colombia and obtained a stem-mobile injection and I have been operating with a sports activities psychiatrist. I have these tools in my mental recreation and I’m keen to set them to use. I’m generating authentic progress as a martial artist and it is felt so very good to reinvent myself,” Pettis mentioned.

“I’m not obsessing about getting back to a belt or acquiring that upcoming location. This is my to start with probability to get again-to-back again wins in a when. Let us begin back again over, just take this 1 phase at a time. I sense remarkable at 170 pounds. This option opened up and I could not say no to it.”

Pettis (23-10) is coming off of a unanimous determination acquire around Donald Cerrone at UFC 249 this past Could, bouncing back from a submission reduction to Diego Ferreira at UFC 246. He is a several decades eliminated from remaining an elite fighter in the sport but he’s still more than capable of obtaining his hand lifted As for Morono (18-6), he is coming off of a conclusion acquire over Rhys McKee past thirty day period. He has received 4 of his final 5 total.

Who do you think wins, Anthony Pettis or Alex Morono?