The trend of former UFC stars finding new homes elsewhere shows no signs of slowing. Former stars like Ronda Rousey and Francis Ngannou recently signed deals with Jake Paul’s MVP. Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis is the latest name to join the list.

The former UFC lightweight champion will officially return to MMA in a bout against Adil Boranbayev on June 6th in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The fight will headline the newly launched mixed martial arts promotion ORDA Global Fights in their inaugural event. His opponent, Adil Boranbayev, carries a 23-13-1 record and has been active on the Eastern European MMA circuit.

This will be Pettis’ first professional MMA bout in nearly four years, following a hiatus since his last fight in the PFL in August 2022. After consecutive losses to Stevie Ray, Anthony Pettis bid adieu to MMA and instead turned his attention to boxing, going 1-1 across two bouts, including a fight against boxing legend Roy Jones Jr.

Before this, in May 2025, Pettis was set to make his MMA return in the inaugural GFL event against UFC rival Benson Henderson. However, the promotion collapsed before it launched due to financial issues. Now, fans can look forward to seeing Anthony Pettis back in action in the format that made him a popular name.

UFC CEO Dana White has yet to comment on Pettis’ return, though the two have remained on good terms since Pettis departed the UFC in 2020 after competing across the featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight divisions against the likes of Nate Diaz, Donald Cerrone, Tony Ferguson, Charles Oliveira, Jim Miller, Max Holloway, and Dustin Poirier. White even referred to him as the retired fighter he talks to the most.

“Me and Anthony Pettis talk a lot,” White said earlier this year on Spinning Backfist. “We’ll talk fights, we’ll talk his business, we’ll talk gambling. He gambles. Pettis plays.”

After leaving the UFC, Pettis fought five times under the PFL, but he finished with a record of 1-4, falling short of his earlier success. Nevertheless, he maintained a strong relationship with Dana White. ‘Showtime’ admitted that they still talk on “weekends” regularly. Although maintaining a positive relationship with the UFC CEO is not easy, Pettis found a way and shared his approach with fellow fighters.

Anthony Pettis speaks on how to maintain a good relationship with Dana White

The 39-year-old, even before joining the UFC, had a strong relationship with UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby during his WEC days, before the UFC acquired the promotion in 2006. Those foundations have held ever since, and Pettis has been candid about how he keeps things smooth, keeping business strictly through his management and leaving the personal relationship separate.

“Technically, he is our boss,” Pettis said in 2022. “He decides how much money we’re making. So the relationship could hurt and could affect money as well. There’s a fine line between that — between business talk, friendship, and all that. So all my business, I passed through my managers. I let that flow through them. And then when it’s friendship time, it’s friendship time.”

When asked whether he had any issues with Dana White, Pettis replied, “Nah, Dana’s my boy, man.”

In contrast, Dana White had contentious relationships with some of his other stars, including Randy Couture and Anderson Silva. Moreover, even today, Jon Jones reportedly expresses unhappiness over White’s decision to snub him from the UFC White House event.

Nevertheless, for Pettis, the June 6th fight represents a chance to rebuild momentum in a career that stalled badly in his final PFL stretch. Will he be able to do that, only time will tell.