...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
15 months after capturing the UFC Lightweight Championship, Anthony Pettis will finally make his first title defense on December 6 at UFC 181 in Las Vegas.
Pettis revealed the date for his bout with Gilbert Melendez in an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour today.
The fight will come after the 20th season of The Ultimate Fighter, which begins airing in September with Pettis and Melendez serving as coaches.
Melendez, the former Strikeforce Lightweight Champion, gets his second title fight in three UFC fights after a one-sided decision win over Diego Sanchez last October. He lost a close split decision to Benson Henderson in his UFC debut last April.
Pettis, meanwhile, took the belt from Henderson by force last August, submitting him in the first round for his fourth straight win, and his third straight stoppage victory.
Penick's Analysis: It's good that this fight's coming in December rather than getting pushed back to January. While they're going to be entertaining and beneficial coaches on TUF, the fact that their fight is being held up because of the show is disappointing enough as it is. Now that there's a set date, though, it gives fans an endpoint to look forward to.
DON'T GO YET... WE SUGGEST THESE MMATORCH ARTICLES, TOO!
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.
