Elvin Espinoza Calls Out MMA Idol Anthony Pettis, ‘That'd Be a Blessing’

PFL Challenger Series 155-pound winner Elvin Espinoza hopes to face one of his mixed martial arts idols inside the Professional Fighters League cage.

It didn’t take much for Espinoza (8-0, 3-0 PFL) to become the latest addition to the 2023 PFL Regular Season lightweight roster. All “The Prodigy” had to do was defeat Damir Ferhatbegovic, who also missed weight by over a pound ahead of the Week 4 of the 2023 PFL Challenger Series headliner. Eventually, Espinoza took home the victory via a rear-naked choke submission in the second frame. When the dust settled, former titleholders Vitor Belfort and Tyron Woodley praised Espinoza’s performance, which was then rewarded with a contract. Now, Espinoza is looking at another former UFC champion, Anthony Pettis, with whom he expects to clash later this year. While talking with Sherdog, Espinoza confessed Pettis is one of his sources of inspiration for MMA, hoping to share the cage with his idol.

“I actually want to fight Anthony Pettis. When I started watching MMA, that's who I watched. I watched all his practices, all his trainings, all the motivational videos that I would see of him. To be able to fight your idol, that'd be a blessing. He is a former UFC champ; to test myself against him would be amazing.”

(00:00) Intro
(00:21) Celebrating his victory
(01:13) Submitting Ferhatbegovic
(02:14) Commenting on his opponent missing weight
(02:37) Speaking to his opponent after the finish
(03:38) Winning the PFL contract
(04:26) Being praised by Vitor Belfort and Tyron Woodley
(05:24) What’s next for him
(05:58) Being motivated for the fight after his wife lost her job
(07:11) Calling out Anthony Pettis
(07:45) Outro