FiveKnuckles.com: So I hear you're training with Alan Belcher and Ben Rothwell?

Anthony Pettis: Yeah. Ben is actually in the same camp as me. It's kinda cool to have big guys up there. He's fighting Mirko Cro Cop, and that's definitely a big fight, so Duke [Roufus, our coach] is pushing us hard. You don't want two losses in a row in any organization - the UFC or WEC. So a lot's at stake for this fight.

FiveKnuckles.com: So what would you do if you weren't a fighter?

Anthony Pettis: If I wasn't a fighter, I'd probably be teaching martial arts. Actually, me and my brother own our own gym. We're business partners. We teach Taekwon-Do and mixed martial arts. So I'd probably be teaching martial arts. And I was a firefighter for a couple months. That's when I decided to go with mixed martial arts. I quit firefighting. And I'm taking this as far as I can go.

FiveKnuckles.com: So what are you like outside of the cage?

Anthony Pettis: What do I do outside of the cage? Lately, I'm playing a lot of video games. I never really liked video games before. But the new ‘Call of Duty' game came out and I've been stuck on that game. I've been playing that game probably every day.

FiveKnuckles.com: Have you beat it yet?

Anthony Pettis: Yeah, I beat the regular mode. But I play online, with the online mode. You know, play with people from all over the place. I do that a lot. I mean, I go out and stuff, just not when I'm in training camp.

FiveKnuckles.com: Do you ever have thoughts about changing weight classes at all?

Anthony Pettis: I'm comfortable at lightweight, actually. I'm actually focusing on becoming a bigger lightweight. I can't make 145. I mean, I probably could, but I'd die doing it. I'm comfortable at lightweight. I'll probably just stay at lightweight for a while.

FiveKnuckles.com: So, you're fighting in the lightweight division of the WEC. Have you ever thought about going to the UFC?

Anthony Pettis: Yeah, for sure, it's a goal. The UFC is where the top 155-ers are. I mean, the 155-ers in the WEC are awesome, we've got some good guys in there. But a lot of the top 155-ers are in the UFC. So eventually, I wanna go there. I just turned 23-years-old, so I'm not in a rush to go there. But, definitely, that's my goal to get into the UFC.

FiveKnuckles.com: And I asked that for a reason: because of all of the talk of a potential UFC and WEC merger. They don't know what they would do with the Octagon if they chose to merge: keep it bigger like the UFC or smaller like the WEC. What's your take on the Octagon?

Anthony Pettis: I've heard that a couple times, but I never heard any confirmation or anything like that. I actually...