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Former UFC lightweight Anthony Pettis expressed a desire to box Anderson Silva as his next opponent.
'Showtime' fought boxing legend Roy Jones Jr. on April 1st, under Jorge Masvidal's 'Gamebred Boxing' banner. The event took place at the Fiserv Forum in Pettis' native Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Pettis and Jones Jr. boxed eight rounds at the which 'Showtime' won the bout via unanimous decision. In the post-fight press conference, Pettis said that he would like to face former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in the boxing ring.
Here's what Anthony Pettis said:
"I'd love to fight Anderson Silva, and that was supposed to happen in the UFC. For me, the weight definitely matters but I [will] pay attention to my coaches. I mean I'm one of the those guys, you - anywhere, anytime, [the ruleset doesn't matter] - I'm down to fight."
Although he likes boxing, 'Showtime' said that he would like to fight in mixed martial arts at welterweight. Here's what he said:
Skip to 4:19 for Anthony Pettis on wanting to fight 'The Spider':
"I'm not done with MMA yet, I've still got some MMA left in me. I definitely want to move up to 170 pounds. Doing that tournament (PFL lightweight GP) at 155, I just couldn't be myself. I just weight cut too much, I didn't feel good in the training camp."
Anthony Pettis last competed at the Professional Fighters League (PFL) where he has an abysmal record of 1-4. He last fought Stevie Ray at PFL 7 in a rematch at the 2022 PFL lightweight semi-finals.
Anthony Pettis's MMA career
Anthony Pettis is one of the best strikers to have walked inside the octagon. The Milwaukee-native has held championship titles in multiple organizations. Prior to joining the UFC, 'Showtime' was the WEC champion until it was taken over by the world's premier MMA promotion.
While in the UFC, Pettis amassed a 11-9 record, beating the likes of Jeremy Stephens, Joe Lauzon, Donald Cerrone, Benson Henderson, Gilbert Melendez and Charles Oliveira to name a few.
Pettis met Benson Henderson twice, once in the WEC and the other in the UFC. In both meetings, 'Showtime' fought 'Smooth' in title fights. In both fights, Pettis beat Henderson as champion and took away his WEC and UFC titles. In the WEC, Henderson was on the receiving of one of the most infamous highlight reel kicks of all time, at the hands of Pettis, i.e. 'The Showtime Kick'.
Pettis last fought in the PFL and amassed a 1-4 promotional record. He is currently a free agent in MMA, with an overall record of 25-14. In MMA, Pettis fought across three different weight classes, i.e. featherweight, lightweight and welterweight.
