While the Professional Fighters League kicked off in earnest in Las Vegas on Saturday night, Anthony Pettis was living out a combat sports dream.
The former UFC and WEC champion, whose initial run with the PFL ended in the 2022 postseason, defeated boxing legend Roy Jones Jr. via majority decision in the Gamebred Boxing 4 main event at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. “Showtime” received two scorecards in his favor — 77-75 and 78-74 — while a third judge saw it 76-76. It was Pettis’ professional boxing debut.
“[I’m] most definitely happy with the performance,” Pettis said at the post-fight press conference. “Roy is a legend. A lot of experience. Even his coaches – he has so much experience out there. I gave up a big size advantage. I think I fought a great fight. My coaches gave me a great game plan and I executed that perfectly.”
With one boxing win under his belt, Pettis is excited to see what the future holds for him in the Sweet Science. One bout that interests him is a matchup with ex-UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
“I’d love to fight Anderson Silva and that was supposed to happen in the UFC,” he said. “For me, the weight definitely matters. But I’m gonna pay attention to my coaches. I’m one of those guys, anywhere, anytime — it doesn’t matter the ruleset, I’m down to fight.
“… I think we’ll be strategic on the fights that I’m gonna take, but I’m having fun with this. I’m having a good time. I’m enjoying the process. I showed some good skills out there I think. So I definitely have some more fun to have over here in boxing.”
Although he went 1-4 over the course of two campaigns with the PFL in 2022 — most recently dropping a unanimous decision against Steven Ray in the playoffs last August — the Roufusport standout plans to return to the cage in the near future. That may be in a different division than lightweight, however.
“I’m not done with MMA yet,” Pettis said. “I still have some MMA left in me. I definitely want to move up to 170 pounds. I think doing that tournament [in PFL] at 155, I just couldn’t be myself. I was cutting weight too much. I didn’t feel good in the training camp. Once I figure out the weight class in mixed martial arts and the opportunities, [I’ll be OK]. I’m a free agent right now, so I get to sit back and take the fights as they come. I’m in a good spot.”
While Pettis acknowledged that he is a free agent, it does appear that a return to PFL could be in the cards. The league has previously indicated plans for a pay-per-view division, so perhaps that’s where Pettis’ next MMA opportunity will arise.
“The PFL is a great company. They definitely show a lot of support,” Pettis said. “I’m looking forward to fighting back for them at the end of the year.”
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