UFC News: Sergio Pettis reveals he considered quitting after back to back defeats

The youngest of the Pettis brothers, Sergio, also known as The Phenom returned to winning ways, snapping out of a two-fight losing streak in front of his people in a recent flyweight bout at UFC Fight Night 159 held in the Mexico City Arena, Mexico City.

He picked up a unanimous decision victory (scored 30-27 by all judges) over UFC debutante Tyson Nam, who replaced Pettis’ initial opponent Alex Perez (sidelined due to injury) on short notice.

While the win did revive Sergio’s UFC career and set him up for bigger and better bouts in the near future, things were certainly not as rosy for the 26 year old flamboyant flyweight in the past few months building up to the fight.

His post fight interaction with MMA fighting led to some sensational revelations as the fighter went on to reveal that he was in serious doubts over resuming his fighting career following back to back losses against Jussier Formiga and Rob Front (UFC 229: Khabib vs McGregor and UFC on Fox: Lee vs. Iaquinta 2 respectively).

The interview shed some light on various aspects of the fighter's personal as well as professional life. Here's a sneak peek.

Sailing through troubled waters

Here’s what the No. 5 ranked UFC flyweight had to say on what this fight meant for him.

“It was a comeback fight for me as getting into it; I suffered two losses back to back for the first time in my career. It was scary, really scary because I was coming out to fight for my job.”

He further spoke about dealing with the string of defeats coming into this fight.

“The nine months that I had off, I was going through some really dark times; just kind of figuring out if this is for me or what I want to do and I am glad to realize that this is what I want and love to do.”

'Fly'ing again

About returning to the flyweight division after a short-lived bantamweight stint, this is what Pettis had to say,

“I feel like it does not make sense for me to fight at 135 because at flyweight I feel like a true professional athlete where I have to take my diet seriously. I have to ensure that I take every extra measure to make sure that I not only make weight but also am in shape to fight as the pace is frantic at flyweight.”

Who’s up next?

Brimming with confidence, Pettis revealed who he wants to dance with in the octagon up next.

“I don’t really care. I am here to fight them all. I already fought Cejudo and I beat Benavidez who is set to get the next title shot so whoever they want me to go against up next, I’m going to fight them all.”

Homecoming!

The Phenom was overwhelmed to be able to return to Mexico City for the second time. When asked how he felt to be able to perform in front of his ‘people’, he said -

“It felt great to be able to fight here as I’m coming from Mexican heritage; my mom’s Mexican so to be back in Mexico City fighting for the second time has been a blessing. The people here are amazing and they are always smiling and working hard and I feel like I truly belong here.”

He plans to celebrate his hard earned victory in style before getting back to training again.