Chiesa looks past bus attack to Pettis bout
April incident forced postponement of fight
The last few years, UFC lightweight contender Michael Chiesa’s career largely has been defined by a series unfortunate events.
That includes Conor Mcgregor’s alleged attack on a bus in Brooklyn in April. Mcgregor is charged with felony criminal mischief in the attack, when a construction dolly was tossed at a bus window, cutting Chiesa and forcing him out of a scheduled bout against former champ Anthony Pettis.
The rescheduled bout against Pettis is set for Saturday at T-mobile Arena at UFC 226, part of a pay-perview card headlined by a heavyweight title bout between champion Stipe Miocic and light heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier.
“Hopefully, there’s no hand trucks thrown, … and we can just fight and have the best man win,” Chiesa said.
Chiesa, 30, who now spends his training camps in Las Vegas, and avoids specifically addressing Mcgregor. It’s unclear if it is to avoid discussing the same subject repeatedly or if has to do with pending litigation.
Regardless, he has become quite adept at turning the subject back to the task at hand.
“I’m not here to talk about Conor,” he said. “I’m fueled by winning the title, and I’m facing a former world champion on Saturday. He’s still so dangerous. He’s a vaunted striker with a good guard. That’s a tough matchup for me, but that’s what I want. I like the challenges he presents, but I think I’ll be too much for him.”
The crazy events of April nearly led to Pettis getting another title shot. Max Holloway was unable to make weight for his late-notice title shot against Khabib Nurmagomedov, so Pettis was briefly tabbed as his replacement the day before the fight. But neither could he make the
championship limit on the scales.
“The whole thing was wild,” Pettis said. “I was in the opposite bus, but I saw the attack happen. We got back to the hotel, and I heard he got cut and immediately just asked,
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