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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Anthony Pettis didn't want to pull out of UFC 163 this August, but the UFC wanted him to heal up after he suffered a torn meniscus in training this week while in Brazil.
That's the word from Pettis trainer Duke Roufus in an interview with MMAFighting.com, as he said Pettis wanted to go through with the fight despite needing four to six weeks to recover from the knee injury.
"He's very distraught," Roufus said. "Anthony is a very resilient man. He just wants to regroup right now. What can you do? You can dwell on the negative or figure out a way to past this and get better."
Roufus said Pettis "popped his knee" while down in Brazil, and an MRI confirmed the injury. Thankfully, he doesn't need surgery, but while Roufus said Pettis begged both he and Dana White to remain on the card, they didn't want him to risk further injury.
"[The UFC] said, 'No, you got to be healthy,'" Roufus said. "I'm glad they're looking out for his best interests, too."
Penick's Analysis: It's unfortunate to lose the Pettis-Aldo fight, but this will effectively bring Pettis back to his rightful division at 155 lbs. The Aldo fight was the only thing bringing him to 145 lbs., and now he won't be stuck there as he may have been had he captured the title. Hopefully he can still return for a title fight, because it would be a damned shame for him to once again lose out on a title fight.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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