UFC 206 does not need any more disasters like this.
No Georges-St Pierre, no Daniel Cormier vs. Anthony Johnson and now no outright fight for the UFC interim featherweight belt.
Anthony Pettis tipped the scales three pounds too heavy for the featherweight limit [145lbs] in Toronto on Friday morning and he has lost his shot at a belt many questioned should be up for grabs in the first place.
Max Holloway, Pettis’ opponent in the UFC 206 main event, can still claim the interim strap but the weigh-in mess does not help a division reeling from the departure of former champion [but don’t tell him that] Conor McGregor.
As the dust settled, Holloway took to social media to offer his opinion on former lightweight [155lbs] champion Pettis missing weight.
3lbs is a lot to miss but the guy was trying and I respect that. At the end of the day it is what it is.
— Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) December 9, 2016
There it was again – that old ‘It is what it is’ catchphrase.
It sucks it happened this way but I am glad that we still get to fight for everyone tomorrow night
— Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) December 9, 2016
Holloway also sent out a tweet suggesting that Pettis fans are more than welcome to stand behind his banner as he aims for UFC gold.
Pettis has yet to surface online since missing weight but that has not stopped John Kavanagh and others in the MMA world from piling on.
they all say they can do what he can do. until it comes time to do what he can do.
— Coach JK (@John_Kavanagh) December 9, 2016
Anthony Pettis is the first fighter to miss weight for a UFC championship bout since Travis Lutter at UFC 67 in February 2007.
— Mike Bohn (@MikeBohn) December 9, 2016
Dana White told TSN SportsCentre:Â
“Believe me when I tell you, Anthony Pettis wanted to make weight. He’s been working for months for this day. He came in, when he landed here in Toronto, he was 10 pounds (over), so he should’ve made the weight.
“What that tells you is he’s too old and he’s too big to make that weight, is my opinion. So we’ll see where we go from here.”
Fight fans were not impressed, one tiny bit.
Fuck sake Pettis ðŸ˜
— Liam (@TheLiamBenson) December 9, 2016
https://twitter.com/aaron_dunlop4/status/807254177420374016
With Pettis missing weight, the UFC really has a cluster fuck of a PPV main event #ufc206
— Bill Welker (@MMAontheRocks) December 9, 2016
Catch up with the latest episode of Football Friday Live:
