PFL lightweight Stevie Ray admits his upcoming fight against former UFC champion Anthony Pettis is the biggest of his 12-year MMA career.
Ray is looking to pick up his first win of this year's 2022 PFL season next Friday in Atlanta when he faces Pettis, who scored six points for his submission win over Myles Price in the opening round of the competition. Ray lost his fight to Alexander Martinez in April by decision.
Pettis spent almost 10 years fighting in the UFC and won the lightweight title during that run, defending it once before losing the belt to Rafael Dos Anjos. 'Showtime' moved around weight classes and holds wins over current UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira and top welterweight Stephen Thompson.
Ray recognises the magnitude of his fight against Pettis, telling Mirror Fighting : "This is the biggest [fight], most exciting name on paper. This is my biggest opportunity, that's the way I'm seeing it. I am going to be the underdog, people are going to be writing me off. I'm not the big name.
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"I lost my first fight, he came in and submitted Myles Price in the first round. He's submitted the current UFC champion [Charles Oliveira] and knocked out Stephen Thompson. He's dangerous everywhere, but I do believe I've got the skills to beat him and I do believe I'm going to win the fight."
Ray was left frustrated after his decision loss to Martinez at PFL 1, as two judges scored every round for the Paraguayan despite Ray landing two knockdowns in the fight. Fence grabs and eye pokes from Martinez also went unpunished as he secured three points for the win.
Ray feels that the scheduling of his fight against Pettis works in his favour, as all the other lightweights in the tournament compete tonight at PFL 4. This means Ray will know exactly how many points he needs to score against Pettis to progress into the playoffs of the competition.
"I'm going to know exactly how many points I need to qualify as everybody else in my division of the tournament is fighting tonight. This is the last fight, potentially, of the tournament until the playoffs. So I'm going to be watching all of the other lightweights in the tournament tonight," he added.
"These guys that are fighting tonight aren't going to know exactly how many points they need to qualify. Let's say the fights happen tonight and I need a minimum of five points, I'm going to go f****ng go out there and try to finish Pettis in the first or second round."
