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There are only a few mixed martial arts lottery tickets left that guarantee the recipient a great opportunity, whether or not it's a title.
On Saturday night, Anthony Pettis received one of these lottery tickets in the midst of the UFC 237 craze.
Pettis will meet Octagon superstar, Nate Diaz, in a highly anticipated 170-pound match on August 17 at UFC 241. If the fight remains intact, it will be the first appearance of DFC in the game. UFC since his series of two fights against Conor McGregor – per-view records in 2016. And after spending weeks behind the scenes trying to advance the fight, Pettis' coach, Duke Roufus, could not be happier with the way things went.
"I have to tell you that the interesting thing about this fight is that we kept it secret," Roufus said on Monday. MMA time. "I think it's been around for about two and a half weeks, and three weeks later. What's interesting is that the people of Nate Diaz spoke to our people to organize this project. So when we realized that it was a real fight – when they contacted us. It's been years since both men have blood problems, so it will be a wood stove. "
Roufus's explanation of how Diaz c. Pettis met – Diaz's team personally addressing the Pettis team – is quite different from the usual UFC matchmaking process, which often begins with UFC representatives Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard . But Roufus said it was not the first time. Pettis' team had similar conversations earlier this year about a potential fight against Conor McGregor, he said, conversations that failed.
"Some of the top executives, we exchanged contacts," said Roufus. "Even when we heard that Anthony was fighting Conor, our people were in contact with Audie (Attar) and Conor's people, and they had followed her. That's right, Conor really wants to fight Khabib (Nurmagomedov). I think a lot of managers are proactive, professional, and we are all in the same boat. At the end of the day, we will fight, but the first thing to do is to work together as businessmen. We are in the price fighting sector and we have to fight with prices. "
Pettis is now competing against Diaz after winning one of the biggest victories of his career in his welterweight debut last March, with Stephen Thompson defending the title in two titles. This arrival is already assured to be on the list of the best KOs of 2019, and given the bad mood between Pettis and Diaz for years, Roufus is eager to see what "Showtime" can do against an enemy who can draw the darkness of former WEC lightweight champion and UFC.
"We love" Wonderboy. "If he could eliminate a guy like" Wonderboy "- Anthony does not like Nate, Nate does not like it," said Roufus. "I get along well with Nate, I'm not his best friend, but at the same time, I do not fight him, I respect the Diaz brothers and their position, that being said, their position is easy to fight – when I say [that, I mean] their mentality. They will not love you. People who try to bully and confront Anthony prepare him for the challenge.
"When Donald Cerrone defeated [Pettis]Donald had a little trashy conversation before the fight. Michael Chiesa recently. So people like that really motivate Anthony. It's a bit of a scene in Scarface – "For a green card, I'm going to kill him, but oh, he's a Communist, then I'll make him very handsome." That's the mentality he has when he does not like guys, it's why I look forward to this one.
"I just know stylistically when it's time to hit, which are the best matches, and Nate Diaz is a beautifully stylistic match for Anthony," added Roufus. "And we are at an interesting stage in our career where we are starting to see stylistic confrontations that are fun for him. Now, Nate is not a big shooter, not a great wrestler, so it's going to be very difficult, unless Anthony chooses him and wants to shoot Nate. "
Part of the strategy to prepare for a fight against Diaz is also to prepare for the trashy conversation, for which the Stockton native is famous, both inside and outside the cage. And for this purpose, Roufus is more than happy to slip into the role of younger brother Diaz before August 17.
"We have not managed to beat the buttocks," said Roufus. "It's as if, in the last fight, Anthony had beaten someone who had never been knocked out before, and knocked him out. And one thing is just the mentality. A funny story (former UFC matchmaker), Joe Silva, told me years ago about Nate's fight against Clay Guida, he did not stop saying "209 bitch" throughout the fight. [Guida] go back to the corner and ask his coach, "What is the 209? I do not know. He is facing you.
"So, I'm going to be a crazy coach, I'm going to talk a lot about the mess at training with Anthony. These are some of the psychological tips that my brothers and I used to do while growing up. I'm a method coach – when he's fighting with one of the guys I'm fighting against, I'm getting that guy in the leggings, I'm getting that guy in training, so they're getting used to that mentality; A guy speaks badly, in front of you, screaming and scowling his best since 209. So I will integrate and enter this state of mind. I'm going to be a friend for a while. "
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