Sergio Pettis has been in the public eye since he made his UFC debut at age 20, considered a true prospect as Anthony Pettis’ little brother.
Seven years later, Pettis (20-5 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) has become a championship contender. A balanced and comfortable Pettis clinched victory in their first Bellator main event on Friday night, garnering a unanimous decision over Ricky Bandejas in the Bellator 242 featured match. Judges’ scores were 30-27 across the board.
With the victory, Pettis is expected to win the next fight between Juan Archuleta and Patchy Mix to fill the vacant company bantamweight title, to be held at a date and location to be determined.
Pettis implemented his game plan from the beginning. He stalked Bandejas (13-4 MMA, 3-3 BMMA), cut corners and splashed Bandejas as a solid mix of punches and kicks.
This routine was repeated in the second round. Pettis’ low punishments began to pile up, as Bandejas’s lead leg swelled noticeably and affected her timing. Bandejas was never able to maintain an offensive momentum, with Pettis using deft footwork to dodge the rare occasions that Bandejas advanced.
In the third, Bandejas seemed to feel that he was not on the scorecards. He landed more often than in the first two rounds, but despite that, he was never close to changing course, as Pettis stuck to the game plan and closed things.
The victory, Pettis’ third in a row, was his 13th professional decision victory. Bandejas had a streak of two consecutive wins and has lost three of his last five.
The bantamweight bout was the Bellator 242 main event, which took place on Friday at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The main card airs on Paramount after the preliminaries on YouTube.
Bellator 242 full results:
Sergio Pettis def. Ricky Bandejas by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Jason Jackson def. Jordan Mein by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Jay Jay Wilson def. Tywan Claxton by split decision (27-30, 29-28, 30-27) Aaron Pico def. Solo Hatley Jr. by submission (bare rear choke) – Round 1, 2:10 Mark Lemminger def. Jake Smith via TKO (Hits) – Round 2, 1:46 Raufeon Stots def. Cass Bell by submission (naked rear choke – Round 3, 1:24 Ras Hylton defeated Rudy Schaffroth by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
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