Day 9 – 12/9/10
Day 8 – 12/8/10
Day 7 – 12/7/10
Day 6 – 12/6/10
Day 5 – 12/5/10
Day 4 – 12/4/10
Day 3 – 12/3/10
Day 2 – 12/2/10
Day 1 – 12/1/10
16. Shane Roller vs. Anthony Pettis
When it happened – WEC 50: Cruz vs. Benavidez (August 18, 2010)
This was the fight that made Anthony Pettis a legitimate threat to Ben Henderson’s Lightweight Crown in my eyes. I was always under the impression that Anthony Pettis was one of the last fighters at Lightweight that you’d want to engage with in the pocket, but I thought it would be Shane Roller, who in his last fight completely toyed with Anthony Njokuani, that would expose Pettis’ lack of ground knowledge. It’s sad that I’m still learning not to write off a fighter so quickly.
On paper, Shane Roller had better Jitsu and a better wrestling pedigree than Anthony Pettis. I’m guessing Pettis wasn’t reading the same page that everyone else was, as Roller could not keep this man down. Anytime Roller took Pettis off of his feet, Pettis would find a way to sweep positions and put Roller on a defensive in. When the two were on their feet, well, let’s just say it wasn’t pretty for Shane Roller there, either.
My favorite part of this fight: watching Anthony Pettis escape a submission attempt from Shane Roller, just to position him in a triangle of his own to take the submission victory.
Here’s a kick to remember Anthony Pettis by:
