Former UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis was set to challenge for the UFC Interim Featherweight Title against Max Holloway at UFC 206.
Pettis missed weight for the event due to a horrifying weight cut, one that cost him both a title shot and messed up his health in the process.
“I couldn’t even walk down to the scale,” Pettis said on The MMA Hour. “I had to drink water and put some [liquid] into my body to walk down, weigh-in for the fight. Most guys probably wouldn't have fought. I’m not making excuses, but most guys wouldn't have fought the way I was feeling. The UFC doc was up there watching me and I couldn’t even walk downstairs to get on the scale.”
The weight cut was so bad for the fighter that he is moving back to the lightweight division, as he faces Jim Miller at UFC 213.
Bad weight cut or not, nothing was causing Pettis to miss that UFC 206 main event.
“That wasn’t an option,” Pettis said. “They made us the main event. That would have ruined that card, so that wasn’t an option, you know?”
UFC 213 takes place on Saturday, July 8 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
