GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Anthony “Showtime” Pettis dethroned lightweight champion Benson Henderson Thursday night by unanimous decision in the last bout of the WEC before its merger with mixed martial arts rival UFC.
Pettis, from Milwaukee, is to fight the winner of the Jan. 1 bout between UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and unbeaten challenger Gray Maynard.
The match featured what may have been the deciding move 1:20 into the fifth round when Pettis, in an acrobatic move, bounced off the cage fence and landed a high kick flush on the chin of Henderson, who was fighting in his hometown.
Pettis, whose father was murdered in a 2003 armed robbery, later credited the move to Duke Roufus and said “I’ve got 10 more kicks like that.”
