It has been a tough road for former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis as of late, but he seems to be getting right back on track.

"Showtime" won the UFC lightweight strap back in August of 2013 when he submitted Benson Henderson in the first round of their meeting at UFC 164. After one successful title defense against Gilbert Melendez, Pettis lost his belt to Rafael dos Anjos via unanimous decision after the Brazilian absolutely dominated him for five rounds in March of 2015 at UFC 185.

That was the beginning of a three fight win streak, as Pettis followed up his title loss with a split decision loss to former lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez and a unanimous decision loss to Edson Barboza. He decided to cut down to 145 pounds and had a successful debut against Charles Oliveira with a third round submission win.

Pettis then ran into some trouble with the weight cut to featherweight, as he missed weight for his interim title fight against Max Holloway at UFC 206 in December - a fight he still lost via third round TKO.

This past weekend (Sat. July 9, 2017) Pettis made his Octagon return at lightweight when he took on veteran Jim Miller. Pettis looked like the "Showtime" of old and put on an incredible performance en-route to a unanimous decision win. During the post-fight press conference, Pettis talked about his failed stint at featherweight and why he feels 'at home' again at lightweight (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“Just the win in general feels amazing,” Pettis said Saturday at UFC 213’s post-fight press conference. “To be back in the lightweight division, the weight cut was amazing. I didn’t have to kill myself. I got to train the whole camp. It just felt good.

“I felt this way when I went on my title run, when I beat (Joe) Lauzon, (Donald) Cerrone, (Benson) Henderson, all in the first round. I just felt confident in my skillset.

"I’ve worked really hard on my wrestling with Israel Martinez, and I wanted [Miller] to take a shot on me just to show I had that defense there. I had the range, I felt strong.

"I hurt my hand in like the second round, the same injury as the Holloway fight, so I stopped throwing that right hand, but everything else worked good.

“One-forty-five was death,” Pettis said. “I was trying to make weight, I couldn’t even train, I was just cutting weight the whole time. This was — I felt at home again. I was just having fun and there was no pressure.

“Like in the (Charles) Oliveira fight, I was potentially fighting for a title shot. Max Holloway was the interim title. This one I had no pressure, just go out there and have fun, and that’s what I did. I went out there and had fun.”

What are your thoughts on Pettis feeling great again after returning to lightweight? Let us know in the comments section below!