Pettis: Fans annoying during layoff
Anthony Pettis: “So it’s like we need the fans to watch the sport but at the same time, I’m just focused on what I’m doing as far as training and having fun doing it.”
After winning the UFC light weight title at UFC 164 in August of 2014, champion Anthony Pettis had to take a year off due to multiple injuries. Pettis returns at UFC 184 to defend his title and is happy to finally shut up the fans:
“I definitely got annoyed with a lot of fans this year,” Pettis said. “Just the way they respond to things. You win the fight, you’re the best in the world. You don’t even lose a fight, you get injured and you’re a fake, you’re a phony. So it’s like we need the fans to watch the sport but at the same time, I’m just focused on what I’m doing as far as training and having fun doing it. If I have fun doing it, I don’t care what people think of me.”
The way Pettis sees it, he benefited a great deal from the time off. For pretty much all of his adult life until that point he had one single and solitary goal: the UFC title. That was his narrow focus. With a year to wait until he could actually defend said belt, his focus had to widen.
“That’s why I said I found out a lot about myself,” Pettis said. “When you don’t have that next big fulfillment of a rush, you have to create it in other ways. I did that with my daughter. I did that with my family and my friends, seeing places.
“I found out about who were the real friends in my life, who really cared about who Anthony Pettis is. Just adjusting to all that. Just making sure I’m surrounding myself with the right people and spending my time in the right places.”