Sergio
Pettis spent years trying to escape his brother’s shadow.
Mission accomplished.
The 29-year-old Milwaukee native has emerged as one of the sport’s
premier bantamweights, having excelled in both the
Ultimate Fighting Championship and
Bellator
MMA. Pettis now sports a 22-5 record and finds himself on a
five-fight winning streak, his longest such tear since he started
his career with 10 consecutive victories. The reigning Bellator
bantamweight champion has not tasted defeat in nearly four
years.
As Pettis awaits word on his next assignment—a scheduled title
defense opposite
Roufusport teammate
Raufeon
Stots was scuttled in April—from Bellator matchmakers, a look
at a few of the rivalries that have helped chart his course to this
point:
“The Ultimate Fighter” Season 12 quarterfinalist submitted the
previously unbeaten Pettis with a rear-naked choke in the third
round of their featured UFC on Fox 10 prelim on Jan. 25, 2014 at
the United Center in Chicago. Referee
Herb Dean
called for the stoppage at Pettis’ request 4:39 into Round 3.
Caceres appeared to be outgunned and a step slow through the first
five minutes, as “The Phenom” peppered him with an array of punches
and kicks. However, everything changed in the second round, where
Caceres floored the 20-year-old Milwaukee native with a searing
straight left. Pettis seemed out of sorts from that point forward.
In the third round, the prized Roufusport prospect failed on a
takedown attempt and wound up in bottom position. Pettis then
fished for a heel hook, only to leave himself exposed. Caceres
transitioned to his back, cinched the choke and landed the
submission with a little more than 20 seconds remaining in the
match.
Pettis showed his quality as one of the sport’s budding young stars
when he ventured into enemy territory and took a unanimous decision
from “The Assassin Baby” in the UFC Fight Night 114 headliner on
Aug. 5, 2017 in Mexico City. Scores were 49-46, 48-46 and 48-46.
Moreno made it difficult on the Duke Roufus protégé before a crowd
of 10,172 at Mexico City Arena. He executed a takedown inside the
first minute of the first round, scrambled to the back and threaded
his hooks before securing position with a body triangle and
pursuing the rear-naked choke. Pettis spent more than four minutes
with the Entram Gym standout attached to his back. Nevertheless, he
survived. Pettis stayed upright over the next three rounds and
carved up Moreno with a stiff jab, chopping right hands and a
variety of kicks, one of which opened a cut near the right eye in
the middle stanza. Pettis was in control at the start of Round 5
but yielded a takedown and again wandered into danger. However, he
kept his composure and stayed active from the bottom, feeding
Moreno a pair of upkicks at one point. Pettis eventually escaped to
his feet and closed the round by showcasing his superiority in the
standup. The loss snapped an 11-fight winning streak for
Moreno.
Well-timed takedowns and stifling top control carried 2008 Olympic
gold medalist to a unanimous decision over Pettis in their UFC 218
flyweight showcase on Dec. 2, 2017 at Little Caesars Arena in
Detroit. All three members of the cageside judiciary scored it the
same: 30-27 for Cejudo. Pettis was frozen by the threat of the
takedown. Cejudo held his own in the standup exchanges, then closed
the distance and dragged the former Resurrection Fighting Alliance
champion to the mat. Pettis was powerless on the bottom, as he
found himself pinned beneath the crushing top game of a world-class
wrestler. By the time it was over, Cejudo had outlanded “The
Phenom” by a 85-38 margin and accrued more than nine minutes of
control time.
Crisp jabs and clean counters spurred Pettis to a career-altering
unanimous decision over “The Spaniard,” as he captured the
undisputed Bellator MMA bantamweight championship in the Bellator
258 main event on May 7, 2021 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in
Uncasville, Connecticut. All three cageside judges scored it for
Pettis: 50-45, 49-46 and 49-46. Archuleta spent much of the fight
playing into the challenger’s strengths. Pettis used the
Californian’s aggression against him, snapping back his head with
stinging jabs and sharp counterpunches from both hands. Even when
Archuleta turned to takedowns, he failed to consolidate them with
positional control or ground-and-pound, slowly but surely losing
his grip on the 135-pound throne.
Pettis retained the undisputed Bellator MMA bantamweight crown when
he knocked out the Japanese superstar with a spinning backfist in
the fourth round of their Bellator 272 headliner on Dec. 3, 2021 at
the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The shocking
conclusion came 3:24 into Round 4. Horiguchi had command of all of
his pitches and kept the Milwaukee native off-balance with darting
lateral movements. He battered Pettis’ lead leg with kicks,
punctuated his combinations with powerful overhand rights, mixed in
a handful of spinning back kicks to the body and incorporated
strategic takedowns in the first, second and third rounds. None of
it mattered. A little more than midway through Round 4, Pettis
pushed the
American Top Team rep toward the fence and uncorked a head kick
at close range. Horiguchi ducked out of danger, only to be
blindsided by the spinning backfist that followed. The impact
turned out his lights and sent him crashing to the canvas, the
unwitting victim in one of the most spectacular finishes of 2021.