Anthony Pettis emerged victorious on Saturday night at UFC Vegas 17 with a unanimous decision victory over Alex Morono in the final fight of his current current, but as things stand ‘Showtime’ isn’t sure where he will be fighting in 2021.
“I don’t know,” Pettis said. “I think that was the risk of taking this fight and not re-signing (a) UFC contract.
“Usually, I re-sign my UFC contract (with) three fights to go or two fights to go. This time, I’m like, ‘I’m 33 years old. I’ve been in this (game).’
“This is my 11th-and-a-half year with this company, man. I’ve been with this company for a long time.
“I love this place. I grew up under these lights. They made me who I am.
But at this point, I’m just going to take my time, go to Christmas, have my New Year’s, and then see what happens … in 2021.”
So, it seems that Pettis is preparing to test his worth on the open market, but though he notes that his brother no longer fights in the UFC (Sergio is now over at Bellator), he does indicate that he is still interested in remaining with the UFC.
“My little brother’s outside of the UFC now, and it’s one of those things like I’m not attached to anything any more. I’m taking one fight at a time. My goal is to be the best version of myself. Obviously, the UFC is where the best guys are at, so I would love to fight in this organization still. But we’ll see what happens. Contracts negotiations are something that happens outside of my world. I still have an agent to take care of that.”
At the post-fight press conference Pettis also floated the idea of a rematch with Tony Ferguson, which suggests he still believes he has unfinished business left in the Octagon.
“I think Tony makes sense, man,” Pettis said. “Coming off his two losses, and he’s fighting tough dudes, and that’s what I hate about this sport. Guys are like, ‘Tony’s done.’ He’s a dangerous dude, but that would be a good fight for me to jump back into the lightweight mix.”
