Anthony Pettis to fight Stevie Ray at PFL playoff Friday at MSG

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Anthony Pettis felt pain rocket through his ribs and had moments to consider fighting his way out of a submission hold or tapping out and walking out of the cage healthy enough to fight again only weeks later.

Maybe with $1 million and a 155-pound championship at stake, Pettis might have pushed harder to find a way to escape Stevie Ray in a PFL fight in Atlanta. But Pettis — once a Wheaties box cover boy and former UFC champion — already had a PFL playoff spot secured and little motivation to try and a win a fight through any means but a decision.

Ray, who had just two wins since 2017, locked Pettis in a body triangle and made him quit.

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Pettis put it bluntly, "I got caught in a submission, man."

Anthony Pettis, right, punches Tony Ferguson during a lightweight mixed martial arts bout at UFC 229 in Las Vegas. Pettis is slated to fight Stevie Ray in the Professional Fighters League playoffs Friday night at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

In the UFC, Pettis might have had to wait months, years, if ever, for a second chance. Under the PFL season-long format that includes playoffs and championship fights, an immediate rematch is on deck.

Pettis (25-13) fights Ray (24-10) in the PFL playoffs Friday night at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden. In the win-and-advance format, Pettis promised this time he was coming to fight.

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"It was the wrong mindset to go into that fight with," he said. "Now that I’m here in the playoffs, this fight