Anthony Pettis Discusses His Layoff, Cerrone
Posted on 24 Jan 2013
by MMAScoops.com Staff

Anthony Pettis recently spoke about this weekend's fight with Donald Cerrone. Here are the highlights…

On His Time Off: "It's a long time, man – a long time. I had a year off this year, and it killed me being on the sidelines looking in. The whole division is moving. Look at 'Cowboy.' He won a bunch of fights in a row. If he hadn't lost to (Nate) Diaz, I think he would have been before me for a title shot. So (I'm) not sure, man. I've got 'Cowboy' in my sights right now. We'll see the outcome and go from there."

On Cerrone Calling Him Out: "For him to call me out to saying I'm scared or something like that, it's like 'Where the hell did that come from?'" Pettis said. "I was hurt and can't fight. But the contract's now signed, and we're a couple days away, so I'm excited to solve everything."

On The Difficulty of Fighting Cerrone: "He's making that easy (to not look ahead)," Pettis said. "He's a tough opponent. He's one of those guys you can't sleep on. You can't walk through 'Cowboy.' I mean, he's one of the best lightweights in the division. I'm just focused on him and his skill set and how to beat him, and that's it. Whatever happens after the lightweight [title fight] ... well, it's going to come when it comes. I took a year off. I'm just going to be happy to get some Ws under my belt."

On Ring Rust: "I don't think there's ring rust when it comes to fighting," he said. "A fight is a fight. If I have to fight somebody tomorrow, I have to be ready to fight. This is my job. This is what I'm training for. This is what I've been doing for a long time. I kind of grew up with fighting, so I don't think ring rust is going to be a problem. I've been competing since I was 5 years old in tournament, so I'll just jump back in where I left off."