Anthony Pettis made have been gone for over a year due to various injures and a stint coaching on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) but when he finally returned to the Octagon he did so in style. Indeed, "Showtime" submitted Gilbert Melendez to retain his lightweight championship in the co-main event of the UFC 181: "Hendricks vs. Lawler" pay-per-view (PPV) last night (Sat., Dec. 6, 2014) at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Melendez, for his part, looked game early on, pressing the action and making sure the champion never felt comfortable. But an unfortunate side effect of that aggression was he left himself open for a hard counter shot that hurt him bad enough to force a quick double leg takedown. When he shot in, Pettis saw an opening and snatched a guillotine. That's all it took to get the finish. For more on "Pettis vs. Melendez" click here, and for complete UFC 181 results and blow-by-blow coverage of all the night's action click here.
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