Anthony Pettis has had his confrontations with UFC lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos since he lost the belt to the Brazilian at UFC 185 in March. With a fight against Eddie Alvarez rapidly approaching, though, Pettis said he’s put dos Anjos and the title out of his head.

Pettis (18-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) is set to clash with Alvarez (26-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 81 on Sunday at Boston’s TD Garden. The main card airs on FOX Sports 1 following prelims on the same channel and UFC Fight Pass. It’s an important bout at 155 pounds, and one Pettis said he knows he must win if he hopes to get back in the title picture.

“Showtime” said he was once consumed by the idea of a rematch with dos Anjos, who handed him a five-round beatdown to take the belt, but with his next assignment in front of him, he’s put his priorities in order.

“I haven’t even thought about dos Anjos or the title or any of that,” Pettis said on a recent conference call promoting the event. “Once I found out I was fighting Eddie Alvarez, that was my main focus – this weekend coming up, this fight, staying healthy and get in a positive mind frame of being myself. If I’m myself out there, nobody in the world can beat me.”

Pettis, No. 3 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA lightweight rankings, was on the wrong end of the worst loss of his career at UFC 185. Dos Anjos used an impressive mix of striking and grappling to damage Pettis early in the fight, and he never looked back. To this day, Pettis has difficultly pinpointing exactly what went wrong, but he plans to avoid similar issues against No. 7-ranked Alvarez.

“It was a mental error I think; I can’t look at that fight (against dos Anjos) and pick out exactly what happened, it was just so many small mistakes,” Pettis said. “The preparation wasn’t there and I just took it for granted a little bit. I’m refocused, re-motivated and I’ve got a tough guy in front of me to keep me motivated for training.”

Getting back on track won’t be an easy task against Alvarez, the former Bellator champion that’s split results in two fights since he joined the UFC in September 2014. Although Alvarez is just 1-1 inside the octagon, he’s faced some of the most difficult competition the weight class has to offer in Donald Cerrone and Gilbert Melendez.

The skill level of his opponent continues to go up in his third UFC appearance, because Pettis has decisively beaten both “Cowboy” and “El Nino.” Pettis said he doesn’t like to compare performances against common opponents, but between knowing his own capabilities and seeing what Alvarez has done, the 28-year-old said he’s confident in the matchup.

“He’s had tough fights; he hasn’t been getting easy fights,” Pettis said. “We saw him fight ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone, and then Cerrone just got a title shot. Gilbert Melendez is another tough guy. He came in and fought the top of the division right away, so he didn’t have any warm-up fights in UFC. Now they’re giving him me, so three tough fights in a row.

“I beat both of them guys first round, second round so it’s hard to justify styles in fights, but he’s got tough fights coming in. Now it’s my turn to go out there and make my statement.”

Although dos Anjos is reportedly set to put his belt up for grabs against featherweight champ Conor McGregor at UFC 197 in March, Pettis said he still thinks there’s “a lot at stake” in terms of championship relevance in his fight with Alvarez. It may mean fighting someone else after Alvarez before challenging for the title, but Pettis said he’s ready to take whatever steps necessary to regain his former position.

“2016 I’m looking forward to getting back to where I was at and staying where I was at,” Pettis said. “You never know who is next for you. It all depends on performance, who’s hot and who the fans want to see. This fight, there’s a lot at stake. A title shot, there’s being the No. 1-ranked lightweight in the world and for me it’s fighting someone like Eddie Alvarez.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 81, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.