At His Best: Anthony "Showtime" Pettis

With a total of 12 professional fights to Ben Henderson's 13, Anthony "Showtime" Pettis faces the current and reigning WEC lightweight champion at WEC 53 this December 16, 2010, in Henderson's hometown of Glendale Arizona.

The winner of this fight, in the last event of the WEC's storied history, faces the victor of the upcoming UFC 125 main card event, Gray Maynard versus UFC Lightweight champ Frankie Edgar. This mini-lightweight tournament in two soon-to-be-united divisions will decide the true lightweight champion of the UFC. In other words, the winner of Henderson: Pettis faces the winner of Edgar: Maynard. Lord knows who that man will face to defend the title. The UFC lightweight stable is deep enough without considering the healthy, predatory dimension the WEC lightweights will add to it. Can't wait.

Back to Pettis: Anthony Pettis is the yin to Ben Henderson's yang. Henderson is primarily a grappler who happens to have a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Pettis shares a black belt in the same martial art with Henderson, but it is a third-degree black belt. Pettis also trains with world-class trainer Duke Roufus, the kickboxing legend, alongside Pat Barry and Alan Belcher, notable UFC strikers, as well as Ben Askren, Bellator welterweight champ and fellow wrestler. Pettis's strength's include Muay Thai, as a KO via head kick of Team Alpha Male team-mate Danny Castillo would imply.

Is Pettis just another striker without a prayer against a dominant grappler? Anyone who saw Anthony Pettis fight Shane Roller (an All American wrestler with a record of 8-2, five by submission and four by TKO) can tell you that Pettis is no neophyte to the sport of grappling, despite his strong striking resume. Pettis dominated Roller in takedowns and eventually finished him via triangle choke. Is Pettis the wet blanket to smother the dominating grappler and submission artist in Henderson? Does Henderson have the striking chops to face a striker who can stuff his takedowns.

Pettis is a dark horse, despite nothing more than a split decision loss as the singular blemish on his 12-1-0 record. Henderson has been defending a belt since early 2009. Pettis has been fighting just a little over a year than Henderson, beginning his professional MMA career in 2006, yet he hasn't fought for a title yet. Although Pettis is fighting in Henderson's hometown – Pettis fights out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin – Pettis has already proven his chops against a reknowned grappler. The same grappler, incidentally, that Henderson used to vault himself into title contention: Shane Roller. Whatever the outcome, Pettis has proven himself worthy of title contention.

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By Roy Kok
ProFighting-fans.com MMA Staff Writer