Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight champion Anthony Pettis knows a lot of dummies (like this guy) think the key to defeating him is to replicate the blueprint laid out by Clay Guida (read it), who took a convincing unanimous decision win over "Showtime" back in June of 2011.
Sorry, but those days are over.
Pettis told MMA Fighting he's no longer susceptible to the "Carpenter"-style offense, which leaves opponents -- like surging 155-pound contender Rafael dos Anjos -- with little choice but to stand and bang. And as far as the Brazilian's claims that he's putting the champ to sleep?
"That's what they all say, man. ‘Cowboy' said the same thing. Henderson said the same thing. So did Melendez. And we all saw how that ended up. So I mean, I respect that he has to talk, he has to convince himself that I have holes in my game, but I don't know what fights he really watched besides Clay Guida to get a gameplan, and I fixed that a long time ago. Honestly, I think it's hard to even prepare for me. Benson Henderson is not even close to being on my level in striking, and neither is Rafael dos Anjos... If he thinks he's going to stand there and bang with me, then I think this fight will definitely end in a knockout, and I don't see it going out of the first round. I don't think I need more than five minutes to take this guy out."
Dos Anjos starched Henderson earlier this year with a first-round knockout.
Pettis, who crumpled Joe Lauzon and Donald Cerrone with crushing kicks, admits he's "due for a knockout" after submitting two former champions in the form of Henderson and Gilbert Melendez, the latter of which marked his first fight back after knee surgery.
And should Dos Anjos fall when they collide at UFC 185, I can think of at least one other fighter willing to test that Guida theory.