Pettis and Henderson reflect on the 'Showtime Kick'

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source: sbnation.com

As the old saying goes, desperate times call for desperate measures. One minute left in an even fifth round of the most important fight of your life, tied two rounds to two rounds on the scorecards with your opponent -- how much more desperate of a situation can you ask for?

Anthony Pettis was christened with the nickname "Showtime" for the flashy nature of his fighting style. So, realistically, what else could have happened?

"Showtime Kick. I call it the Showtime Kick." Pettis remarked after Thursday night's WEC event.

Busting out one of the craziest moves in MMA history to win the last WEC Lightweight Championship and No. 1 contender status in the UFC? That sounds right up Pettis' alley. The UFC lightweight division better prepare themselves for the new kid in school.

"The biggest thing going through my mind was: go for it." Pettis explained. "I kept thinking, ‘Man I've got to do something to land.' He was checking all my low kicks and I couldn't get off. He kept stopping with one or two punches, so I'm like, ‘I've got to do something out of the box and see what happens.'"

We practice it in camp, but to do it a title fight -- in the last round -- it's something different." Pettis continued. "Luckily for me, the kick landed, and it was an impressive kick."

Ben Henderson was visibly shaken during the press conference, almost reaching the point of tears several times. When asked if he had ever seen anything like it, Henderson quipped, "I saw it on Mortal Kombat once. I don't really remember it. It was a great kick. It will probably be a highlight reel for a while, huh?"

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tags: WEC Ben Henderson (detail) Anthony Pettis (detail)

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12/17/10 8:43 PM by Massa

More fighters need to think this way. Would have made Kos GSP more exciting if Kos would have had this mindset."Hey its the last round and I might lose, I should go for it and at least try to hit him."

12/17/10 8:38 PM by Gr8_Odins_Beard

After watching this, my friend said the exact same thing.

12/17/10 7:48 PM by MiniToro

That was freaking nice. Basically a tic tac followed up with a kick. I have choreographed fight scenes in which we follow up the tic tac with a superman punch, never thought of using a kick instead.

12/17/10 7:45 PM by shanoknowsmma

Ben Henderson deserves more credit... Don't forget, he was knocked down at least twice before that, by punches. He was hurt several times. Yet he still kept coming back and taking down Pettis and inflicting his own damage. Then, in the 5th, he got caught by the big knee, then this kick...and still was able to grab a leg and avoid the KO/TKO. How many other fighters could do that? Smooth will be just as dangerous a force at 155 as Pettis. The UFC LW's better watch out!

12/17/10 7:37 PM by Shope_1990

Greatest kick EVER!!! Just awesome.

12/17/10 7:30 PM by Hessian

Much respect to Ben also, guy is tough and a class act.

12/17/10 6:46 PM by RickStorm

lol they were just talking about this kick on the radio station i listen to at work.. and they never talk about mma... EVA 105.9 in portland OR

12/17/10 6:32 PM by Mmanizzle

Last year's highlight was this ^^^ 2010 is the Showtime Kick - thanks Pettis! I predict Jon "Bones" Jones to give us something for 2011...

12/17/10 3:21 PM by MetaDevil

My buddy, on seeing that,"Is that even legal?"

12/17/10 3:20 PM by amberlamps

what a freaken kick

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