Former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis will return to the cage for the first time since 2022 at ORDA Global’s inaugural event.
39-year-old Anthony Pettis remains active in combat sports despite being well past his physical prime. In addition to promoting events via Showtime FC, Pettis has appeared in professional boxing and in the Karate Combat pit in recent years.
Pettis’ last MMA fight was a loss to Stevie Ray in the 2022 PFL lightweight semifinals by unanimous decision. The former UFC lightweight champion has lost four of his last five MMA fights overall, including defeats to Clay Collard and Raush Manfio in the PFL.
After four years away from the cage, Pettis will return to MMA to help launch one of the sport’s newest promotions.
Anthony Pettis set to headline ORDA Global Fights 1 vs. dangerous welterweight
As announced on his social media pages, Pettis will fight welterweight Adil Boranbayev (23-13-1) in the main event of ORDA Global Fights 1 on June 6th in Kazakhstan. It’s the inaugural ORDA Global card and the full fight lineup is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks.
Pettis will face a solid test in Boranbayev, who has fought the likes of Magomed Magomedov and top UFC welterweight contender Shavkat Rakhmonov in his professional MMA career. Boranbayev hasn’t fought since a split decision loss to Ali Mashrapov last September in ACA.
Pettis is undoubtedly one of the greatest lightweights in UFC history, with victories over the likes of Donald Cerrone, Charles Oliveira, and Benson Henderson during his promotional tenure. After a decisive win over Alex Morono in December 2020, Pettis was one of the PFL’s first premier signings in 2021, but went on to have mixed results with the promotion.
While it’s uncertain how long Pettis’ MMA comeback will last, fight fans should tune in this summer as the UFC legend returns to the cage at least one more time.
What is your favorite memory from Anthony Pettis’ UFC career? Let us know in the comments!