After being pulled from sauna during failed UFC 206 weight cut, Anthony Pettis returning to lightweight

TORONTO – Anthony Pettis has officially decided to give up on his goal of becoming a two-division UFC champion after losing to Max Holloway in the UFC 206 main event.

Pettis (19-6 MMA, 6-5 UFC), the former UFC lightweight champion, moved down a division to featherweight earlier this year in hopes of becoming the fourth fighter in UFC history to win belts in two weight classes. He had a chance to take a huge leap toward making that goal a reality when he was placed in an interim 145-pound title bout with Holloway (17-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) at UFC 206, but things went horribly wrong.

“Showtime” missed weight by three pounds for the contest, eliminating him eligibility to win the interim belt. He was still allowed to compete at UFC 206, but it was a performance he will certainly want to forget after breaking his hand early in the first round of the fight before succumbing to a third-round TKO at the hands of “Blessed” in the pay-per-view headliner at Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

“(I broke my hand on the) first punch,” Pettis told Joe Rogan in his UFC 206 post-fight interview. “First right I hit him with hit him on the top of the head. Broke my hand. It’s (expletive) swollen right here, so I got to deal with that (expletive).”

Pettis successfully made weight for his featherweight debut against Charles Oliveira at UFC on FOX 21 in August. He earned a third-round submission win in that fight, snapping a three-fight skid that began when he lost the lightweight title to Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 185 in March 2015. Although the lightweight division hasn’t been kind to Pettis in recent years, he said the unfortunate circumstances around UFC 206 showed that’s the weight he needs to compete at.

“(It’s) too much to make the cut, bro,” Pettis said. “I was dying from the weight cut. Literally they had to pull me out of the sauna. I depleted my body, so it’s too much of a cut. I have to go back (to lightweight). I can’t make the 45 weight cut. It’s too much.”

Pettis was the first fighter since Travis Lutter at UFC 67 in February 2007 to miss weight for a UFC championship fight. Moreover, he suffered the first stoppage loss of his career to Holloway, who has now won 10 consecutive UFC fights. It was a forgettable week of Pettis’ career, but that didn’t stop him from praising Holloway after the loss.

“Max Holloway’s a beast, bro,” Pettis said. “I swear. Kid did this right, man. He got in here and would stand with me and he got the belt, bro. He’s a good fighter.”

For complete coverage of UFC 206, check out the UFC Events section of the site.