...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
UFC lightweight Anthony Pettis was hospitalized last week with a case of cellulitis in his elbow. Though it caused some concern as to whether or not his much-discussed bout with Donald Cerrone would come together, Pettis said this week that he's good to go and expecting that fight in January.
Tuesday's UFC Tonight program on Fuel TV gave an update on his situation, with Ariel Helwani reporting that Pettis was healthy after taking antibiotics for the infection, and is back training and readying for January. Not only that, he has a date for that fight.
According to Helwani during the program, Pettis said he's training for a January 26 bout with Cerrone, which would come a week prior to UFC 156 on Super Bowl weekend. That would likely be an as of yet unannounced Fox card, given it's the same end of January weekend used in 2012 by the UFC for a Fox event. For now, Pettis isn't concerning himself with title talk, and is simply eying his forthcoming bout with Cerrone.
Penick's Analysis: It would make sense to have Pettis and Cerrone on a highly visible event, though I'm not sure if they'll go with that fight as the headliner of the next Fox card after a title fight. It's possible, but it could be among a number of No. 1 contender style fights on the card, given how they booked January's card. Having them on the next Fox event after Ben Henderson and Nate Diaz headline the December card would make sense, and the timing would work for it to be a No. 1 contender fight. Hopefully it comes together, as it'd be nice to finally see that fight.
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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