Can Pettis Finish Thomson?

Prior to his UFC title fight with Benson Henderson, Anthony Pettis stated that if he won the UFC Lightweight Championship that he would he the kind of Champion that would look to finish all of his challengers. Since becoming the UFC Lightweight Champion, Pettis has not changed that statement and has stated that he is looking to take out his first challenger in the first round. 

Josh Thomson will be the first man to face Anthony Pettis since the title left Benson Henderson's waist. Former Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Josh Thomson is an MMA vet with an impressive resume including wins over notable opponents suchal as Rob McCullough, Hermes Franca, Duane Ludwig, Nam Phan, Gilbert Melendez, Pat Healy and Nate Diaz. TJ Grant was originally set to face Pettis before another injury took him out of another UFC Lightweight title fight.  Grant was quickly replaced with Josh Thomson to face Prttis at UFC on Fox 9.

Current UFC Lightweight Champion, Anthony Pettis, holds a record of 17-2. He finished 7 fights with knockouts and 7 fights with submissions. Manthony Pettis is definitely the definition of a finisher if thete ever is one.He holds victories over Danny Castillo,  Ben Henderson, Joe Lauzon, and Donald Cerrone.  Anthony Pettis won histitle impressively against Benson Henderson when he secured a tight armbar in the last half of the first round of their title fight at UFC 164. Benson Hendersonis one of the best guys at 155 lbs and Anthony Pettis was able to prove his stoppages were no flukes when he submitted the champ. Though the championis a proven finisher it leads us to wonder if he can stop someone the caliber of Josh Thomson.Thomson himselfis coming off of an early stoppage of top contender, Nate Diaz, in their recent bout on UFC on Fox.  I think that Josh Thomson has the ability to hang with Pettis and possibly defeat Pettis with a great camp in place, but we will find out in a few months at UF  on Fox 9.