Anthony Pettis Proves the Importance of Preparation

Photo courtesy of Fightmagazine.com. Photo taken by Paul Thatcher.

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Wednesday night, Anthony "Showtime" Pettis took on Shane Roller at WEC 50. Many assume that the fight was a number one contender fight for a shot at champion Benson Henderson later this year.

Going into the fight, there were a few things we knew for sure. The first was that Pettis was definitely the better striker. He has five knockouts to his name and is known for his exciting and unorthodox style. Not to mention the fact that he trains with Duke Roufus and the boys at Roufusport.

The other thing we knew was that Shane Roller was going to have the wrestling advantage. After all, he is a three time All-American wrestler from Oklahoma State, one of the most prestigious wrestling programs in the United States.

As you likely know by now, things did not go as planned for Roller on Wednesday night. It more likely resembled a nightmare in fact as no matter what he attempted, he could not implement his game plan and get the fight to the mat. When he did eventually get the fight to the mat, he was quickly and easily reversed.

Instead of landing takedowns, passing guard and adding another submission, Roller spent much of the fight taking strikes and having his takedowns blocked.  

So what gave Pettis such as advantage over Roller?

The first and perhaps most important factor was his knowledge of Roller’s game and what he brought to the table. Roller doesn’t hide the fact that he plans on taking his opponents down and beating them up from there, and Pettis took advantage of this. Going up against Roller or any other Division I wrestler, preparations should obviously include a healthy dose of wrestling.  

To help prepare for this facet of the fight, Pettis brought in Bellator welterweight contender and former Olympic wrestler Ben Askren. To me, this was the perfect choice for many different reasons. The fact that Askren wrestled at 174lb. and fights at 170lb. makes him larger than any lightweight opponent Pettis will face. By training with a large wrestler, Pettis came into the fight against Roller prepared for his grip strength and takedown ability, both pertinent parts of Roller’s game.

The other major factor is positional training and cage knowledge. This goes deeper than just blocking takedowns and was a major contributor to the success Pettis had. With Roller constantly pressing forward, Pettis kept his back to the cage for most of the fight, using it to stop takedowns and eventually wear Roller out, much the same way B.J Penn did to Kenny Florian in their championship bout at UFC 101.

It became obvious that Pettis had trained for having his back up against the cage with his ability to rotate out of the position and in numerous instances, take Roller down himself. Late in the second round when Roller finally got the mount, Pettis gripped the cage with his feet and flipped the position over. This can be directly attributed to Pettis knowing where he was in the cage, and how to use his surroundings to get out of the precarious position.

This was specific fight training at its best. With the evolution of the sport it is pertinent for every fighter at the top level to study their opponent and know what is being brought to the table.

Simply put, Anthony Pettis didn’t train to fight, he trained to fight Shane Roller, and this is something that is going to continue to be a theme in mixed martial arts for the foreseeable future.