Anthony Pettis may be ready to unleash another spectacular move

LAS VEGAS – Sergio Pettis grins slyly and begins to speak before catching himself. He knows something you don't know and is dying to share it. He can't, though. As much as he wants to spill it, he just can't.

He's the younger brother of UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, who will defend his title Saturday in the co-main event of UFC 181 against Gilbert Melendez at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Sergio Pettis fights Matt Hobar in the second fight of the night. Hobar's nickname is "The Crowbar," and you get the sense he might need a crowbar to get past the younger Pettis.

But the secret Pettis holds has nothing to do with him and everything to do with his big brother, who next year will become the first UFC fighter to grace the cover of a Wheaties box.

Older brother Anthony, a black belt in taekwondo, has the ability to pull off kicks and punches and moves that other fighters simply wouldn't consider because of the risk involved.

Anthony Pettis is famous for the 4-year-old "Showtime Kick" he pulled off in the waning moments of the final bout in World Extreme Cagefighting history, when he leaped onto and then off the cage and into MMA immortality. He caught Benson Henderson in the head with a stunning out-of-nowhere kick that gave him the WEC lightweight title and almost immediately made him a legend.

There is more where that comes from, Anthony Pettis has repeatedly said, and his younger brother eagerly backs it up.

"I don't want to give anything away that he might do in this fight, but he can blow your mind with some of the things he can do," Sergio Pettis said.

Pushed for even a hint, Sergio wasn't giving away anything. But asked to rate on a 1-to-10 scale some of the moves he's seen his brother pull off in the gym, Sergio didn't hesitate.

"Oh, no doubt, 10," he said, before catching himself. "Maybe even 11."

And then Sergio Pettis laughed, just as Anthony chuckled as he talked about his return to competition after nearly a year-and-a-half layoff.

Life is good for Anthony Pettis, who not only endorses Wheaties but also is one of the fighters Reebok signed to an individual endorsement deal.

His late father actually collected Wheaties boxes with athletes on the cover and passed them on to him. Pettis said he couldn't believe it when he won a fan vote to be on the box because it was a goal of his growing up in Milwaukee.

He still has boxes with Michael Jordan and Muhammad Ali on them and said he's honored to follow in their footsteps.

"For me, it's amazing," Anthony Pettis said. "I've been dreaming since I was a kid to be on this Wheaties box but now that I'm here, it's crazy."

Not as crazy, however, as some of the moves he can pull off in the Octagon. Pettis is among the greatest athletes in mixed martial arts and can complete moves at speeds that leave even high-level guys shaking their heads.

Pettis may not be the physically strongest guy around, but he is a power puncher because of his accuracy and the speed.

Ben Askren, the undefeated One FC welterweight champion and the wrestling coach at Roufusport, where Pettis trains in Milwaukee, has seen many of the same things as Sergio Pettis and is similarly impressed.

"As far as agility, speed and coordination, he's up there with anybody in those categories, for sure," Askren said. "Some people might generate more power than him, but his strikes have power because he's so precise and so quick. As far as a bench press or a squat, those kinds of measurements, there are guys ahead of him.

"But speed, agility, coordination, explosiveness, he's right there with the best of them."

Melendez has long been regarded as one of the division's best athletes and most complete fighters. But this might be the rare occasion where Melendez is outgunned athletically.

But Melendez is a wrestler, and wrestlers historically have fared well against flashy fighters who try high-risk maneuvers.

Pettis, though, insists he's seen something in Melendez's style that could allow him to try a move that may prove as mind-blowing as the "Showtime Kick" in 2010.

"His style is a certain way, and so it might allow me to do some things you may not have seen before," Pettis said.

Whatever it is, no one is saying, but chances are, it's not just one thing.

He's the most acrobatic fighter in the sport and has the kind of creativity that few others possess.

His only downfall has been that he's frequently injured. He tore the posterior cruciate ligament in his knee in his last fight, an Aug. 31, 2013, submission victory over Henderson in which he used an arm bar to win the UFC belt.

Henderson hit him early in the first round with a kick that tore the PCL. He had surgery shortly after the fight and has been unable to compete since. He spent time coaching on "The Ultimate Fighter" as he healed from his injuries.

Since Feb. 25, 2012, when he knocked out Joe Lauzon in Japan with a spectacular kick to the face that finished the extremely tough and durable Lauzon in less than 90 seconds, Pettis has fought three times. The bouts, though, lasted only a total of eight minutes, 27 seconds, and all ended in the first.

It would seem logical that for a guy who relies on precision and timing that long layoffs between fights would hurt him.

But both Sergio Pettis and Askren said they've seen nothing to indicate he'll have an issue.

"Personally, I don't really believe in the ring-rust thing," Askren said. "I think if people do poorly off comebacks, it's because they didn't train right or get themselves into the right mindset. Anthony is a great competitor and he's a guy who rises to the occasion when the lights turn on.

"He'll be there full force, ready to rumble. Anthony may not be the best practice-room fighter, but he always comes ready to compete hard when the lights are on and the seats are full. If there are one or two things I'd say he does well, competing is right there at the top, and so he shouldn't have any problem."

The biggest issue he might face is the task of continually trying to top himself. Expectations for him are soaring – UFC president Dana White referred to him in an interview with Yahoo Sports as "one of those rare, special kind of guys you don't see all that often" – so it's going to be hard for him to keep pushing the bar higher.

Pettis, though, will at least try.

"I want to go out there and win, first of all, but I also want to put on a show and entertain the fans and do the things I'm capable of doing," he said. "And so I don't worry about holding back or anything. If I see an opportunity to do something special, I'm going to try to do it, believe me."