We’ll say this for UFC 206, they’re lucky it is in fight-mad Toronto or it would struggle to fill half the stadium.
Anthony Pettis and Max Holloway will consider themselves main event men but it is somewhat unfair to foist a massive PPV on their shoulders and ask them to step up their preparations from three to five featherweight rounds. The sweetener here is an interim belt that neither man holds much stock in.
By winning in Toronto on Saturday night, either Pettis or Holloway will get the next crack at newly installed featherweight champion José Aldo. That was always the likely outcome anyway but the promotion need a title fight to get the pay-per-views in.
Pettis is seeking to become only the fourth man in UFC history [after Randy Couture, B.J Penn and Conor McGregor] to win titles at different weight classes. He previously held the lightweight belt before falling to Rafael Dos Anjos.
Asked what he made of McGregor, who had to give up his featherweight belt after UFC 205, walking around [and boarding flights] with both belts over his shoulder, Pettis’ answer was understandably frank:
“How can you [say anything about it]? The world saw what he did. How can you erase the world’s memory of what he did?
“My job is to fight and to take the fights they put in front of me. That’s what I’m going to do this weekend.”
As for McGregor, he has been promoting a fitting emoji for the weekend that’s in it.
Your army done nothing! https://t.co/pDbtUmdPyp #AppUpdate #LinkInBio pic.twitter.com/TwsfBYEMaO
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) December 8, 2016
Looking good.
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