Matt Serra believes Anthony Pettis has a difficult time when his back is against the wall.

Pettis was seen in action this past Saturday night (Jan. 18). He went one-on-one with Diego Ferreira to get the main card of UFC 246 started. Pettis ended up being submitted in the second stanza. “Showtime” has now gone 1-3 in his last four outings. He’s been finished in two of those defeats.

During the post-UFC 246 edition of UFC Unfiltered, Serra expressed his belief that Pettis simply runs into problems when he isn’t under ideal circumstances.

“Man I like Ferreira. I like him a lot. And Pettis, he’s having a hard time,” Serra said on Anthony Pettis’ struggles. “When the going gets really tough sometimes he has a hard time. I mean, Pettis got out of there. He got caught in that choke. You look him in the face, you’re mounted and you’re still in some danger. But a lot of respect for Ferreira.”

With that said, Serra takes nothing away from Ferreira’s performance.

“He has heavy hands,” Serra continued when talking about Ferreira’s win over Anthony Pettis. “I remember they were questioning his closing the distance with that, it was almost like an old school jiu-jitsu side kick into a clinch but it was interesting. And he didn’t get damaged. He was in there, you know?”

It was a huge win for Ferreira, who extends his winning streak to six. He hasn’t suffered a defeat since April 2015. That was at the hands of former interim UFC lightweight champion Dustin Poirier. That was Ferreira’s fourth fight under the UFC banner.

Things are going in the opposite direction for the 32-year-old Pettis. He hasn’t been able to string together two wins in a row since his days as the UFC lightweight champion. Pettis had a pro MMA record of 18-2 prior to losing the 155-pound gold. Ever since his final successful title defense, “Showtime” has gone 4-8.

Do you agree with Matt Serra on Anthony Pettis’ struggles when things get tough?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 1/21/2020.