On Saturday night, Sergio Pettis will fight on the same card as his brother, former Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, for the fourth time. “Showtime” has at times said that arrangement has proved to be too much of a distraction for him, as he always fights after his younger brother.
Both Pettis brothers have a shot at elevating their stock in their respective divisions on a blockbuster card featuring a main-event title fight between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov. The younger Pettis (17-3) will take on a formidable opponent in Jussier da Silva (21-5), in one of the few pairings of top-10 fighters that haven’t yet faced each other in the relatively shallow flyweight division.
As for making the most of his placement on a McGregor-headlined card, Pettis was blunt in his breakdown of the importance of the “Formiga” fight.
“I just have to go out there and deliver,” Pettis told Sherdog.com’s Anthony Walker on Thursday at a UFC 229 media event. “My fights have been going to decisions, I’m a very technical fighter, and I’m very pretty with my style, but I have to go out there and be brutal.”
A win for either man could put them in line for the flyweight belt currently held by Hendy Cejudo, who himself recently ended Demetrious Johnson’s unprecedented reign of dominance over the division.
Pettis’ brother, “Showtime,” competes in the co-main event against Tony Ferguson. UFC 229 takes place Saturday night in Las Vegas.