Sergio Pettis wasn’t exactly the picture of confidence heading into his title defense against Patricio Freire.
“I thought I was gonna lose this fight. I ain’t gonna lie,” Pettis said at the Bellator 297 post-fight press conference. “I was telling my girl, if I lose to anybody it’s OK to lose to Patricio ‘Pitbull. ‘He’s a legend.”
Pettis then stopped to clarify that statement.
“I didn’t think I was gonna lose. I was just having battles in my mind,” he added. “I was kind of nervous, scared — all of the above. 18 months off of competing. I kind of forgot how all this felt. It’s the opposite of Nate Diaz. I am surprised motherf—ers.”
In his first fight since recovering from knee surgery, Pettis proved the doubters — and himself — wrong in a complete performance, as he confounded Freire with his speed and striking in a clear-cut unanimous decision triumph on Friday night in Chicago. Ultimately, Pettis believes those battles might have helped him in the fight.
“It was something I had to battle for sure. It was a tense day for me [on Friday]. I just kept pacing back and forth, sweating nonstop. I was definitely nervous,” he said. “To get past that and have these battles with myself, that makes me perform to my best. Thinking I’m gonna lose and going out there willing to risk it to win and also not afraid to lose. It’s a weird thing. I’ve got to figure it out.”
Freire, who is one of the most accomplished fighters in Bellator history, entered the matchup as the clear favorite despite being the one who was competing in a new weight class. Pettis took note of the popular perception.
“Everybody was talking about ring rust and all this crazy stuff. Everybody was talking about ‘Pitbull’ and kind of forgot about me,” Pettis said. “I’m glad to be back and show the champ’s home.”
According to Pettis, being underestimated is par for the course. However, beating an opponent the caliber of Freire is certain to raise his profile.
“I think my career is like that. A lot of people overlook me,” Pettis said. “Now it’s good to be seen. I feel like this fight made me seen. I’m just gonna keep on going, I’m motivated.”
Pettis says he would ideally like to face interim 135-pound champ Patrick Mix in November or December before he gets married next February. For now, “The Phenom” can sit back and appreciate the arduous journey he made to get to this point. He thinks his own struggles might make him a little more relatable than the average fighter.
“There’s a lot of fighters that are almost super humans, people can’t relate to them. I’m just very human,” he said. “I’ve had these problems since I was a young kid, I still deal with it to this day. I’m kind of figuring it out still as I’m going.
“I wanted this fight to be special. Last year I was dealing with a lot of hard stuff. I didn’t compete for a while, I didn’t get to make money. So I was battling financial issues on top of dealing with anxiety, dealing with depression. Especially having an ACL injury, you can’t move around at all. Definitely had to face all those battles and overcome those hardships.”
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