Anthony Pettis: ‘As a man, I need that rematch’ with Rafael dos Anjos

MEXICO CITY – Anthony Pettis anticipates he’ll be back in the gym within three to four months and ready to fight in five to six. When he returns, he wants to fight Rafael dos Anjos, whether it’s for a title or not.

“As a man, I need that rematch,” Pettis told MMAjunkie. “I know I can do better than that, and that’s what I want.”

Pettis is currently in Mexico City, where he’ll attend Saturday’s UFC 188 event.

The former UFC lightweight champion was scheduled to fight Myles Jury (15-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) at next month’s UFC on FOX 16 before an elbow injury forced him to withdraw. He said the matchup was attractive primarily because it offered the chance to erase the loss of his title to dos Anjos in March at UFC 185, but he said it was not a fight that would win him a title shot. (Edson Barboza stepped in for Pettis and Jury was later replaced by Paul Felder after he suffered an injury.)

Now that Pettis is again sidelined, though, he knows exactly what he wants.

“If he has the belt, that’s what I want,” Pettis (18-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) said of dos Anjos (24-7 MMA, 13-5 UFC). “If he doesn’t have the belt, I want him.”

Although the Brazilian champ is also injured at the moment, recovering from a torn MCL, he is expected to return late this year against No. 1 contender Donald Cerrone (28-6 MMA, 15-3 UFC).

Pettis said he watches his fight with dos Anjos “like every night” and still can’t wrap his head around his unanimous decision loss.

“Going into the fight, I just felt off,” he said. “I was hitting him with shots; I had this mental block like I can’t hurt him. I didn’t have the power to hurt him. I just felt weak.”

And yet, Pettis bears no grudge toward the champion. Although the two shared a room recently for media obligations, they were cordial.

“I know what I signed up for,” he said. “There’s no hard feelings on that. It was his night.”

For more on UFC 188, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.