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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Next week's Resurrection Fighting Alliance 8 event on AXS TV was set to be headlined by a flyweight bout between Jeff Curran and Sergio Pettis. The fight would have likely sent the victor to the UFC, but unfortunately, Curran's been forced out of the event just ten days before the card due to a family emergency.
The 35-year-old Curran would have been entering his second fight at 125 lbs., and eyed the bout as a potential return to the UFC after a failed run at 135 lbs. Unfortunately, outside circumstances will keep him out of the event.
"It's unfortunate that Jeff Curran had to pull out of the fight on short notice, but this happens, even at the highest levels of MMA," said RFA President Ed Soares in a release. "As an organization that models itself after the UFC, we had to move forward and find a worthy replacement to give the fans an exciting title fight that is just as compelling as the original bout. Luckily, we were able to find that in 'Smokin' Joe' Pegg. Pegg has finished all four opponents he has faced in 2013 and brings an explosive striking arsenal that will clash well with Sergio Pettis. Pegg is in shape after winning a fight five days ago with a 42-second submission, and like Sergio Pettis, he’s also a second degree Black Belt in Taekwondo. He's fast, aggressive, and looks for the finish. This is a huge opportunity for Pegg and I believe this is going to be a great main event for the first ever RFA flyweight title."
Pettis, the younger brother of UFC star Anthony Pettis, spoke with MMATorch's Rich Hansen and Jamie Penick on Tuesday night during a new episode of the MMATorch Tuesday Night Livecast at BlogTalkRadio.com/MMATorch, and expressed how he was feeling into the Curran fight.
"He's trying to get in the UFC again," Pettis said. "I'm his gateway, he's trying to beat me just to get back into the UFC, so that's definitely motivation. I'm trying to retire this guy, man. I'm a big fan of Jeff Curran, I really respect him a lot, but it's my time to shine."
When he heard Curran was officially out of the fight, the 19-year-old gave a very diplomatic response to the news.
"Sucks not to be fighting Curran anymore," Pettis said via text message. "Stuff happens and hopefully one day him and I can meet up in the cage and put on a show."
Though he's listed at 5-1, Pegg's official record via Sherdog.com's database is in at 2-1. The second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do fighting out of Ohio officially has two knockout wins to his credit, with one submission loss.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
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