CM Punk on teammate Anthony Pettis' loss: 'Eddie Alvarez fought a perfect fight'

Anthony Pettis doesn’t lose often, but when he has, there has been a common denominator.

When he lost his UFC debut to Clay Guida, he was outwrestled. When he lost his lightweight title to Rafael dos Anjos this past March, the same was true. Essentially, the formula had been found: Whatever you do, don’t stand up with “Showtime.”

Earlier this week in the co-main event at UFC Fight Night 81 in Boston, Pettis (18-4 MMA, 5-3 UFC) ran into someone who had the Guida-RDA game plan: Eddie Alvarez (27-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC). Alvarez took a split decision from Pettis at TD Garden in Boston.

One of Pettis’ teammates at Roufusport Gym in Milwaukee, Phil “CM Punk” Brooks – who is expected to make his long-awaited UFC and MMA debut later this year – gave credit to Alvarez, a former Bellator champ who now has eyes on a lightweight title shot after handing Pettis his second straight setback.

“I think Eddie Alvarez just fought a perfect fight against a guy like Anthony Pettis,” Punk told USA TODAY Sports. “I know any time I’ve ever sparred with him, I don’t want to stand in front of him. I don’t want to give him that open space and that chance. It was just the smart thing to do to keep him pinned up against the cage and nullify what Anthony does best, and that’s strike from a distance.”

Punk acknowledged Pettis had been working on his wrestling. It was well publicized that Pettis spent part of his camp away from Milwaukee, working on his ground game with Izzy Martinez, who has worked the wrestling games of Jackson-Winkeljohn MMA fighters for years – including Guida.

But Punk also said it might not be that simple. In this case, that’s just how the fight played out.

“The obvious thing to say is ‘work more on his wrestling,’ but it’s the fight game and everything ebbs and flows and things change,” Punk said. “I think Anthony is actually a fantastic wrestler. One could even say that if that fight with Alvarez was five rounds, Anthony would’ve beat him. He was stuffing a lot of takedowns in the first two rounds. He was maneuvering off the cage. He was doing more damage than Alvarez was. Unfortunately, it just went the way it did. I think he needs to just keep doing what he’s doing. This was the first time he’s traveled outside of Milwaukee to train. He’s training (wrestling) with Izzy Martinez, and I think that’s the right direction to go – you just build off that.”

Pettis, after the loss, said he wants a “real fight ASAP” and a return to the octagon quickly, likely in hopes of righting the ship after the Alvarez loss.

Punk believes regardless of how quickly Pettis gets back to work, he’ll come back improved.

“I think losses really make champions,” he said. “Anthony was there before, and I think he’ll come back stronger. He’s not so much discouraged that he is just disappointed that he lost. But it’s in the past, he’s going to move forward and he’ll fight again.”

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 81, check out the UFC Events section of the site.