Anthony Pettis explains how the UFC’s “rat race” resulted in him signing with PFL

Newly-signed PFL lightweight Anthony Pettis explained how the UFC’s “rat race” resulted in him leaving the UFC and signing with PFL instead.

Pettis shocked the MMA world when he announced he was taking his talents away from the world’s top mixed martial arts organization in the UFC and signing with PFL, which most consider as the No. 3 promotion in North America. However, the lure of winning one million dollars for running the table in the PFL lightweight tournament was too much for Pettis to turn down, and he decided to sign with the PFL. There were also some other reasons behind Pettis making that decision.

Speaking to the “What the Heck” podcast with Mike Heck, Pettis said it was the UFC’s “rat race” which was the real reason behind him leaving the organization.

“I wasn’t getting cut. I wasn’t on the chopping block, I had an offer from the UFC. But that offer was like putting me back in the same rat race I’ve been in, if you will. I’ve been in that rat race. I know I was going down to 155, everybody’s trying to get that belt again. There’s some names in front of me. It would have been fun to go back and take care of some guys that I know I could have beaten and that I lost to, but when I made this decision I took all that emotion away from it,” Pettis said.

“I took away trying to be a champion in the UFC, trying to come back from losses that I had, rematches that I wanted. What makes sense for my career? What makes sense for Anthony Pettis right now? It didn’t take long. I knew what my goals were and these guys are giving me a format for it.”

With such a stacked lightweight division in the UFC, Pettis was likely going to work his way up a deep ladder just to break into the top-15, and as he said, he wasn’t interested in that UFC “rat race” any longer. For Pettis, the chance to go to PFL and jump into the organization’s eight-man tournament with a chance to win a $1 million grand prize, that’s much more up to his speed at this point in his career. Pettis has already held UFC gold, and now it’s time to see what he can accomplish in the PFL.

How do you think Anthony Pettis will fare moving from the UFC to PFL?