This friday June 7th in Albuquerque, New Mexico the UFC continues their FIGHT NIGHT series with a solid card featuring a headline bout of Benson Henderson versus Rustam Khabilov. One of the undercard bouts that is receiving a lot of attention is the bantamweight bout between Sergio Pettis and Yaotzin Meza. Pettis sits a massive (-525) favorite over the unsung Meza, who returns (+415).
Anthony Pettis is the UFC’s Lightweight Champion of the world. Sergio Pettis, known as the ‘phenom’ is his brother. Let me toss the name Mark Hughes out there, send some of the newer readers scurrying for the history books.
The younger Pettis has been impressive in getting to the UFC,working his record to 10-0 and displaying the trademark flashiness that his brother makes great use of. Well, Pettis walked into the average Alex Caceres in his UFC and he bombed. He fought well at times, but Caceres was able to tire Pettis and extend the fight, and when Pettis gave it to him, Caceres finished.
For his efforts, Caceres gets run over by Urijah Faber in his next outing at UFC 175. Pettis? Pettis gets 20-9 (1-2 overall in the UFC) Yaotzin Mesa in what can only be described as an attempt to secure a win for Pettis.
The bottom line is we are going to find out a lot about Pettis. There was something about the rise of Anthony Pettis that captured the imagination of UFC fans, and the company really wants to re-capture that magic. Unfortunately, Sergio is not Anthony, and though you can call him the phenom all you want, he walked into his first UFC fight against a mid tier guy and he lost.
He is very young, and how he handles the loss wil ltell a lot. A business like approach to this fight with Meza where he focuses on getting his first UFC win should be more than enough for Pettis to justify being a 5 to 1 favorite.
But is Pettis willing to accept a series of B level fights? Will the UFC bring him along like may be needed with a young, developing fighter? Or is the 20 year old facing the undue pressure of being Anthony Pettis brother? If he does feel pressure like that, then Meza has a chance.
