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Theres nothing quite as humbling in combat sports as losing. Its the only weapon that can slice through the shield of bravado that a fighter needs just to step foot inside a cage -- transforming irrational confidence into an infestation of doubt.And what if said loss means the end of a world title reign and universal claim as one of the sports pound-for-pound best? And what if its followed up by two more defeats?If former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis has one word to describe his journey over the past 18 months, it would be dark.I was depressed. I was like, This is what I do. This is what I pride myself on -- [being] the champ of the world. Now Ive lost three in a row, Pettis told ESPN.com, during a Reebok FightHub event at UFC 205 in New York. Its a weird place to be at. You find out a lot about yourself when you lose. You find out how good you really are.Pettis, 29, responded to the losing streak in August by moving down in weight, and he looked spectacular in his featherweight debut by choking out Charles Oliveira. Four months later, a flurry of events conspired to transform his return on Saturday at UFC 206 in Toronto into a very big deal.Originally the co-main event, Pettis featherweight bout against red-hot Max Holloway (16-3) was pushed into a headlining role after an injury forced light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier to withdraw from his rematch against Anthony Johnson. Soon after, Conor McGregor vacated his featherweight title -- by choice or by force, depending upon your perspective -- and suddenly, the Pettis-Holloway fight had the interim featherweight title on the line (with Jose Aldo elevated to undisputed champion).While Pettis admits the victory over Oliveira definitely bought some confidence, the recent emotional toll of highs and lows has been heavy.Pettis (19-5), among the UFCs most dynamic and creative strikers, opened 2015 on the cover of a Wheaties cereal box. A little more than one year later, however, a trio of defeats to Rafael dos Anjos, Eddie Alvarez and Edson Barboza left many doubting whether he would ever be the same.Among those doubters was Pettis himself.You still have that thought in the back of your head -- that feeling of losing, Pettis said. It haunts you. Its one of the things I hate feeling and I felt it three times in a row. For a whole year I lost. It was a sh---y feeling, but I feel like for now, I have the first win under my belt for a new weight class and a new light. Im having fun training again and Im injury free.Pettis saving grace throughout his losing streak was that all three defeats came by decision. To that end, he was able to pinpoint a couple of small mistakes that cost him in each fight.At this level of the game, its a game of inches and centimeters, Pettis said. Anybody can beat anybody on any given day. If you have an off night, there goes the fight.I just feel like every time I went out there, there were a couple of small mistakes that cost me the fight. I didnt get knocked out, I didnt get submitted. It was just decisions and output, I think. So we just focused on the output, focused on not letting these guys hold me on the cage [like Alvarez did.]Pettis admitted he still questions himself constantly, and says that anyone who claims to be 100 percent confident when entering the Octagon is lying.If youre not nervous, youre not ready, he said.Entering Saturdays fight, Pettis is the betting underdog -- and thats been another positive motivating factor working in his favor. When you are the underdog, you have nothing to lose, Pettis said. People expect you to lose. If I go out there with a dominant performance, everyone is going to remember why I was the champ at one point.The other x-factor for Pettis is knowing he will be the bigger and stronger man after moving down in weight -- and that confidence could be just what he needs to balance out the uncertainty that lingers after his losing streak.Im way stronger. Oliveira is probably the biggest guy in the division [and] when he hit me, I didnt feel it. I wasnt hurt, said Pettis. Wrestling wise, he couldnt take me down. McGregor dominated [Holloway] from the southpaw stance, and as long as Max cant come forward, he doesnt build that confidence. Ive got to be the bigger guy out there and push him around.Utah Jazz Shirts . -- Josh Sterk scored once and set up two more as the Oshawa Generals edged the visiting Belleville Bulls 3-2 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. Jazz Jerseys China . At a Manhattan federal court hearing, attorney Jordan Siev said his law office has gotten more evidence nearly every day to support its lawsuit accusing MLB and Selig of going on a "witch hunt" to ruin Rodriguezs reputation and career. He said the defendants went "way over the line. https://www.cheapjazzonline.com/ . Pierce was ejected in the third quarter of Indianas 103-86 win Monday. George Hill stole a bad pass and was going in for a layup, and Pierce hustled back and appeared to be trying to wrap him up. Jazz Jerseys 2021 . Coach Mike Munchak says Fokou stretched ligaments in his left knee Oct. 13 against Seattle, which could keep out up to five weeks even though the linebacker didnt need surgery. Utah Jazz Gear . William Carrier opened the scoring for Cape Breton (6-4-2), but Andrew Ryan tied the game and Brent Andrews put the Mooseheads (8-6-0) in front for good with a short-handed goal at 13:49 of the second period.BATON ROUGE, La. -- LSU wont give up a home game later this season to make up a game at Florida that was postponed because of Hurricane Matthew, athletic director Joe Alleva said Monday, further minimizing the possibility that the traditional rivalry game will be played at all.One thing were going to hold very firm on is we have a home game on Nov. 19 -- and were going to have a home game on Nov. 19, Alleva said. Were not going to change that situation.His stance leaves open the possibility of LSU hosting No. 18 Florida on that date and buying out the Tigers scheduled opponent, South Alabama -- should the Gators be willing to play in Baton Rouge that day and buy out their own scheduled guest, Presbyterian.Alleva said the possibility of Florida coming to LSU this season and LSU going to Florida the next two seasons had not been discussed.There do not appear to be many other options, however.LSU is free on Oct. 29, a week before hosting No. 1 Alabama, which also has off the weekend of Oct. 29.The Tigers could theoretically travel to Gainesville that weekend, but Alleva asserted, Im not in favor of playing a game on that day unless Alabama also plays a game on that day.Alabama athletic director Bill Battle declined to comment when asked about Allevas statements. And even if LSU was willing to play at Florida on Oct. 29, that would require Florida and Georgia to shuffle their annual rivalry game in Jacksonville from Oct. 29 to another day, such as Oct. 22, when both are off.When Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity was asked during an SEC Network interview Monday about the possibility of moving that game, he responded, Its impractical and I dont think its an option whatsoever.If the LSU-Florida game doesnt get made up, the schools will play only seven Southeastern Conference games this season, rather than the usual eight.That means the SEC might have to decide division winners based on conference winning percentages, as was done decades ago before every team in the conference had balanced league schedules.Deciding divisions based on winning percentage could become advantageous for Florida if No. 9 Tennessee -- which is coming off a loss at sixth-ranked Texas A&M and hosts No. 1 Alabama this Saturday -- loses just one more SEC game. If Florida then wins its final four SEC games against Missouri (at home), Georgia (at home), Arkansas (on the road) and South Carolina (at home), the Gators would win their division with a 6-1 league record despite losing to Tennessee, which would be 6-2.Meanwhile, if LSU won its final four SSEC games against Mississippi (at home), Alabama, Arkansas (on the road) and Texas A&M (on the road), the Tigers would still finish second in the West if the Crimson Tide finished with only one league loss.ddddddddddddIf those scenarios play out, maybe there has to be another way of looking at who the division champions are. Maybe you only look at divisional play, Alleva suggested, but stressed that theres been no discussion at all about doing that.In a statement Monday, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey reiterated that he wants administrators from LSU and Florida to work collaboratively to reschedule the game this season.We need to play the game and we need to have people come together to find a way to make that happen, Sankey said.Alleva has said that LSU -- which in 2005 moved a home game to Arizona State because of Hurricane Katrina a