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According to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is looking to book a highly-intriguing Lightweight showdown between former division champion, Anthony Pettis, and hard-hitting slugger Justin Gaethje.
A bout that is expected to go down in the early stages of 2019.
Per multiple sources, UFC looking to book Justin Gaethje vs. Anthony Pettis. It's not done and there's no date just yet, but that's the matchup currently in the works. Would be early next year.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) November 13, 2018
Yes, please!
Pettis is coming off a technical knockout (TKO) loss (corner stoppage) to Tony Ferguson, which went down at UFC 229 a month ago in Las Vegas, Nevada. Indeed, ‘Showtime” suffered a broken hand during the back-and-forth brawl that saw both men shine. In the end, Anthony’s corner didn’t allow him to answer the third round bell due to his injury.
As for Gaethje, he recently broke his two-fight losing streak by obliterating James Vick at UFC Fight Night 135 in 90 seconds (see it again here). Prior to that, “Highlight” had dropped back-to-back fights to Dustin Poirier and Eddie Alvarez.
The winner of this potential slug-fest could make big strides in the championship hunt.
While a date and location has yet-to-be determined, the promotion does have two events planned for the month of January, as UFC’s debut on ESPN is set for January 19, 2019 while UFC 233 is locked-and loaded for January 26 in Anaheim, California.
Early predictions?
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