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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Anthony Pettis has longed to prove himself as the top lightweight in the world for the last couple of years, but his first crack at a UFC Championship will come in the featherweight division on August 3. Pettis told UFC President Dana White on Saturday night that he wanted to drop down to fight Jose Aldo, and White and the UFC obliged quickly, booking the fight on Tuesday.
For Pettis, he believes he's already the best fighter in the lightweight division, having already beaten current Champion Ben Henderson in the WEC, and now he's searching out what he feels is a more difficult challenge.
"To me, Aldo is a tougher fight – that's why I asked for it," Pettis said in an interview with UFC Tonight on Fuel TV. "He's one of those guys who has gone through his opponents like crazy and he just beat the last 155-pound champ. Aldo is definitely a tougher challenge for me. I've beaten Benson Henderson once and I think I'm going to be doing it again soon, but right now Aldo is the guy on my radar."
Pettis said the idea of moving down has been on his mind for some time, but with teammate Erik Koch still in contention, he didn't want to get in his way. With Koch losing to Ricardo Lamas, it opened the door for the challenge. He feels he matches up well against Aldo, and though he has a chance now to capture the Featherweight Title, he's still eying the Lightweight Championship as well.
"The biggest thing is where he's good at. He's good where I'm good," Pettis said. "He likes to stand and trade and bang, and I feel like I'm a little more well-rounded and I can offer him a big challenge."
"I have to cross those bridges when I get there, but my goal is to become the 155-pound champ."
Penick's Analysis: Pettis has lofty goals for himself, and believes he'll beat Aldo and beat whomever is holding the Lightweight Title later on in the year. I wouldn't put it past him, and he might just get that chance if he goes down and beats Aldo at what will be UFC 163 this August. And that's the incredible piece of what is a very strangely timed bit of matchmaking; if Pettis beats Aldo, then goes back up and beats Henderson or Melendez, he'll in one quick swoop make himself one of the greatest fighters to have competed in the lower weight classes. It's a great opportunity for him, and could be a very intriguing story to follow for the rest of 2013.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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