UFC
Manager: Anthony Pettis considered drop to 145 lbs. for Jose Aldo bout, but focused on UFC lightweight career
Mar 14, 2012 - 1:35:27 PM Manager: Anthony Pettis considered drop to 145 lbs. for Jose Aldo bout, but focused on UFC lightweight career

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

For a second straight year, Anthony Pettis has been in conversation for a title shot in the UFC, only to be snubbed in favor of an immediate rematch between the participants of the last UFC Lightweight Championship bout.

This second snub, where he would have gotten a chance to defeat Ben Henderson for a second time, has him considering many options when it comes to his MMA career. One of those was the potential for a move down to 145 lbs., a consideration reported by Ariel Helwani on UFC Tonight on Fuel TV on Tuesday.

Per Helwani's report, Pettis was considering a move to 145 lbs. should a fight with Jose Aldo be available. However, it was simply a consideration, and while he said Pettis could make the cut, he added that it's not very likely that he would make that move right now.

Further, Pettis' manager, Mike Roberts of MMA Inc., made it clear on Twitter that it was only something that they had considered, but Pettis has "unfinished business" at lightweight. He's concentrating on his UFC career in the lightweight division, and as such will also not be going over to Strikeforce to face Gilbert Melendez, as had been rumored earlier in the week.

Pettis wants to fight soon, and because of that he may have to take a fight against someone who may not necessarily prove his worth as a title challenger. Still, if he can stay active and successful, the title shot will be in future.

Penick's Analysis: For half a second the idea of Pettis-Aldo is certainly intriguing, but there are a number of reasons he and the UFC wouldn't do that fight right now. First and foremost, he's never attempted to make 145 lbs. Making that cut for the first time would be a very difficult thing to deal with if the man you were facing was Jose Aldo. Secondly, his teammate and good friend Erik Koch is a top contender at featherweight. To move down and potentially capture the title would be to take that opportunity from him, and I don't think that's something he'd do. We'll have to wait to see who the UFC books him against at lightweight, but that's where he's going to keep himself busy.