UFC 181: Anthony Pettis Makes Up for Lost Time, Subs Gilbert Melendez in 2nd

For nearly seven minutes on Saturday, it appeared Anthony Pettis was going to have trouble shaking off the rust. Then—for just a few seconds—the returning lightweight champion was his old, brilliant self again, and the fight was over.Pettis became the first man ever to finish No. 1 contender Gilbert Melendez at UFC 181, snatching a guillotine choke from thin air and forcing Melendez to tap out a few ticks shy of two minutes into the second round. As they raised his hand and wrapped the title around his waist, it suddenly felt as though he’d never left.

“It’s been 15 months. A long layoff,” Pettis told UFC color commentator Joe Rogan in the cage moments later. “It was a tough last year, but I reminded everybody who I am. I’m the champ for a reason—king of the hottest division in the UFC.”

It was undoubtedly an excruciating year-and-a-half off for Pettis, as the UFC lightweight champion rehabbed and recuperated from knee surgery. Since coming to the UFC in 2011 as the last reigning WEC champion, he’s spent extended periods on the shelf.his week, UFC president Dana White said he felt all Pettis would have to do to claim a spot among the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world would be stay healthy. In his return to the cage, Pettis appeared fit as a fiddle—and looked every bit the part of the young, exciting superstar the fight company hopes he can become.

Early on, it seemed Melendez might succeed in making their co-main event bout a grinding, protracted affair. He clinched Pettis against the fence from the opening, nicking him with short knees and attempting to drag him to the mat.

Pettis periodically broke free and fired off some of his flashy offense—a spinning kick here, a running knee there—but for a time Melendez managed to corral him against the chain link when he wanted to do it.In the second, though, Pettis edged free long enough to sting Melendez with a punch and force him into an ill-advised takedown attempt. As he stuffed it, Melendez tried to scramble, and Pettis locked up the choke with an abrupt, frightening quickness. He rolled to top position and Melendez—a longstanding black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Cesar Gracie—was forced to tap.

“He’s a fast, slick youngster, man,” Melendez told Rogan. “He made me feel a little old today with his speed. But he knocked me pretty good and I just took an ugly shot. There was a lot of chaos in there, and he capitalized.”

It was also Melendez’s first fight since October 2013. Ten months ago, he seemed on the verge of walking away from the UFC in favor of a contract offer from Bellator MMA. To get him to stay, it’s believed the UFC made him a handsome new offer, including a coaching gig opposite Pettis on Season 20 of The Ultimate Fighter as well as Saturday’s title shot.

Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2291763-ufc-181-anthony-pettis-makes-up-for-lost-time-subs-gilbert-melendez-in-2nd