1.) Injuries:
The main roadblock to Pettis taking one of the top spots on the pound-for-pound list is obviously his lengthy injury history. He partially tore his PCL against Henderson and completely ruptured it when he returned to training.
That was after shoulder and other issues kept him out for the majority of 2012 following his headkick knockout of Joe Lauzon at UFC 144 that February. Pettis has decimated world-class opposition with inventive finishes in each of his three recent bouts, but those have been his only matches in going on three years.
He’s supposedly back to full health for his bout with Melendez, but new information about his status arose on yesterday’s UFC 181 Embedded Episode 4. Pettis visited a chiropractor after experiencing tightness in the back of his right leg, and said he felt a minor “tweak” when he threw some kicks at the doctor’s gym.
We’ll have to wait and see if that affects him tonight, but any injury news is especially disconcerting for Pettis because his own body has been his worst enemy. It would be devastating to see him suffer another such ailment at UFC 181, but unfortunately it’s a possibly that can’t be ruled out.
