There was a final sting in the tail today regarding UFC 206’s headlining interim featherweight title fight, with Anthony Pettis missing weight by 3lbs.
As a result, Pettis will no longer win the interim 145lb title if he emerges victorious on Saturday night, though his opponent, Max Holloway would still take the belt if he wins.
This is not a good look for the former lightweight champion, who will also be fined 20% of his fight purse, though truth be told, this particular interim title is up there with the most meaningless in UFC history.
After all, Jose Aldo has already been announced as the new featherweight champion after Conor McGregor was stripped due to his inactivity in the division over the past year, so the only real reason that these two 145lb top contenders are competing for the interim belt is due to the UFC attempting to spice up the fight after they bumped it up to main event status.
If Pettis wins on Saturday night, he won’t have the interim title wrapped around his waist, but he will still go on to fight Aldo for the ‘real’ title next year, so it’s unlikely he’ll be losing too much sleep over it.
However, it remains to be seen how much the tough weight cut has taken out of ‘Showtime’ as he heads into what’s expected to be a hard-fought five round fight tomorrow night.
