UFC lightweight Anthony Pettis earned “Knockout of the Night” honors for his first round TKO stoppage over Donald Cerrone in Chicago at the UFC on FOX 6 event. It was the first time that Cerrone had been stopped via TKO in his MMA career.
Pettis asked UFC President Dana White for a title shot in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan and it came up again in the post-fight press conference.
UFC lightweight champion Ben Henderson will look to defend his title against former Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez in April at the UFC on FOX 7 event. Pettis said he plans to wait to fight the winner of that fight, which means he may not fight again until July or August barring injuries to the winner of Henderson/Melendez during their fight.
Pettis is the last fighter to defeat Henderson. The two fought in the final WEC fight in December 2010, with Pettis winning a unanimous decision to become the final WEC lightweight champion. It’s also the fight that put Pettis on the map with his “Showtime Kick”. However, Pettis lost his UFC debut to Clay Guida and Henderson has gone on to win six consecutive fights in the UFC.
UFC President Dana White did confirm that Pettis is next in line and that he deserves the next title shot.
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