UFC
Anthony Pettis to undergo surgery, likely to return to UFC in mid-to-late summer
Mar 21, 2012 - 1:50:29 PM Anthony Pettis to undergo surgery, likely to return to UFC in mid-to-late summer

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Anthony Pettis was hoping to be tapped for a Title fight against Ben Henderson after their respective wins at UFC 144, but the UFC then opted to grant Frankie Edgar an immediate rematch.

With that fight not on tap for him, Pettis will take a bit of time off to take care of an undisclosed injury. It was revealed on Tuesday's edition of "UFC Tonight" on Fuel TV that Pettis will undergo surgery, and will be out of action for around eight weeks.

That puts his projected return around mid-to-late summer, which would allow him to face off against another top contender out of some of the fights matched up this May. A very likely scenario could see him take on the winner of the UFC on Fox 3 main event between Jim Miller and Nate Diaz, with the winner earning the right to face the Edgar-Henderson II winner.

Penick's Analysis: Whatever the injury is, getting it taken care of here will actually help get things in order in the lightweight division. If Henderson-Edgar takes place this summer, the winner of Miller-Diaz will need another fight, and should they fight Pettis in, say, August, it would be a very good timetable to then put the winner of that fight into the next title bout. Hopefully this surgery isn't anything too serious, and hopefully his injury won't require too much rehab, but with the eight week timetable I can't imagine it is. Regardless, hopefully he can return at his best when he does make it back to the cage.