WEC
WEC 53 PREVIEW: Anthony Pettis preparing for five round battle with Ben Henderson, ready to prove he's the best in the world
Dec 16, 2010 - 9:22:05 AM WEC 53 PREVIEW: Anthony Pettis preparing for five round battle with Ben Henderson, ready to prove he's the best in the world

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

This article was originally published on November 27

The final event for World Extreme Cagefighting is fast approaching, and the final challenger to the WEC Lightweight Championship is finishing up his preparation for the event.

For 23 year old Anthony Pettis, 2010 has been a banner year. WEC 53 will mark the fourth time he's fought in 2010, and will be his seventh fight in the last 18 months. To go along with a spot on the documentary series "World of Jenks," he now fights for a chance to challenge for the UFC Lightweight Championship.

While it would be easy for all of this to go to a young fighter's head, Pettis is remaining focused on the task at hand: WEC Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson.

"I'm not looking past Ben Henderson," Pettis told MMATorch this week. "The guy's the Champ for a reason, and I've got my hands full with this guy. Once this fight's over and the outcome's decided, then I'll look to the next fight, but right now I'm focused on Ben Henderson.

"I'm excited that the UFC and WEC are merging, I've wanted to fight in the UFC since I started MMA, but like I said I've got my hands full with my next opponent."

Hands full may be an understatement. The 12-1 Henderson has won 11 fights in a row heading into this clash, five of them in the WEC. In his five WEC fights, Henderson has finished four of them, and the sole decision was his five round "Fight of the Year" war with Donald Cerrone to capture the Interim WEC Lightweight Championship at the end of 2009. Pettis knows what he's up against, and he's preparing for a long battle in Henderson's home state.

"The thing I'm preparing for the most is his cardio and his endurance," Pettis said. "This guy can go, go, go. So I'm really preparing myself to go seven rounds. I'm fighting five rounds, but I'm preparing to go seven. He's a really good fighter, he's a great wrestler, great striker, great grappler, he's great everywhere, and so am I. I get a chance to show this now.

"The world's kind of seemed to judge me on the couple of fights that I've had, and I've had some pretty good fights, but they haven't seen everything I bring to the cage yet, so this is the guy that's going to push me and I get to see who I really am in this fight."

The winner of this fight will get a crack at the UFC Lightweight Champion, be that Frankie Edgar or Gray Maynard after UFC 125, when they enter the UFC in 2011. While he knows he's got a tough task at hand, Pettis is excited to get a chance to prove just how good he is against the best lightweights in the world.

"I'm looking forward to proving myself [and proving] to the world that I'm the best lightweight fighter there is," Pettis said. "I have a lot to get better at, but I feel I've got what it takes to beat the top level lightweight competition in the world.

"Every interview I used to get asked 'how would you match up against the UFC guys?' I finally get to answer that question."