The last man to hold the 155lb belt before Rafael dos Anjos reckons Conor McGregor is in for a “totally different world” at lightweight.
The last time we saw Anthony Pettis inside the Octagon, he was being absolutely demolished by one-man wrecking crew RDA over five rounds to lose his belt.
Rather than get an immediate rematch to reclaim his title, Pettis is taking on former Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez in the co-main event of Fight Night 81, while McGregor is expected to get the next lightweight title shot with a bout reportedly being targeted for UFC 197 in March.
Speaking to MMA Fighting in the build up to his clash with Alvarez, Pettis all hinted that the rumours about McGregor getting the nod to fight RDA are likely to be true.
“If they’re going to make money on Conor, I’m sure they’ll give [the title shot] to Conor.”
However, he issued a warning to the Notorious and fans alike about the division. Although McGregor has pretty much steamrolled everyone he’s faced at 145, he should not expect to find it as easy in the next weight class up.
“But I’ll tell you this, Conor going to 155 is a totally different world. I mean, he’s not going to go up there and look like the Conor of 145. That’s why Jose Aldo never moved to 155.”
Pettis also weighed in his opinion on McGregor’s work with movement expert Ido Portal, claiming that the Israeli’s teachings are the real deal.
“That whole movement thing is traditional martial arts. It’s real talk. I live by it as well. If you go in there and you try to bang with somebody, you kind of take away your edge, you start getting hit more. It becomes a kickboxing or a boxing fight.”
“In martial arts, mixed martial arts, you use that range, that movement, that different pace, guys aren’t used to that, and Conor is having some success with it. My whole career is based on that.”
He criticised fans for being skeptical of the benefits of fighters working with coaches such as Portal, hinting that they are somewhat ignorant of the importance of movement in fighting.
“MMA fans are so quick to judge or jump onto the next train or jump onto the next thing, if he would’ve lost, people would’ve been talking like, oh, movement ain’t nothing. But it definitely is important.
“Movement is huge in mixed martial arts. It’s huge in fighting. Understanding distance. Understanding where the power in your punch is. Not just being a strong, brutal guy. I don’t want to fight with force. I like to fight with accuracy.”
