The younger brother of a former UFC champion has begun to forge his own name in Bellator MMA.
On Bellator’s return for the first time in five months, Sergio Pettis defeated Ricky Bandejas by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) in the Bellator 242 bantamweight main event on Friday night.
Bellator, the second most prominent MMA promotion in the US after the UFC, had not held an event since February 22 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Pettis’ older brother Anthony was the UFC lightweight champion in 2013 and 2014.
This card was held at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, overseen by the Mohegan Tribe’s Department of Athletic Regulation. COVID-19 protocols were implemented, including multiple coronavirus tests and the maintenance of fighters, corners, and personnel within a kind of bubble at the Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino.
The original Bellator 242 main event was supposed to be a bantamweight title fight between Juan Archuleta and Patrick Mix, but Archuleta dropped out. The expectation is that the fight will be reserved for the belt.
On Friday, Pettis was surely in that No. 1 contender conversation. He had a cheap performance against Bandejas, beating the tallest man and racking up his calves during the first two rounds. At one point, Bandejas seemed to lose his balance due to damage from those repeated kicks to the bottom of his left leg.
In the third round, both men opened up. Pettis was not content to make a decision and presented several striking techniques, clearly seeking a knockout. Pettis threw spinning kicks, and Bandejas returned with some of his own, including a head kick that Pettis barely blocked. Pettis launched another spinning kick with seconds remaining that also narrowly missed.
Pettis (20-5) has won three straight games, including his first two at Bellator. The Milwaukee native left the UFC as a free agent last year with a 9-5 record in the organization, going back and forth between flyweight and bantamweight. Pettis, still only 26, owns a win over Joseph Benavidez, who just fought for the UFC flyweight title last weekend in Abu Dhabi.
Bandejas (13-4) had a broken two-fight winning streak. The New Jersey native propelled himself up the Bellator bantamweight ladder in 2018 when he staggeringly knocked out Conor McGregor’s protégé, James Gallagher. Bandejas, 28, trains outside of the US Top Team in Florida.
Also on the Bellator 242 card, blue pilot Aaron Pico won his second consecutive bout by the end. Pico (6-3) sent Solo Hatley Jr. with a bare rear choke at 2:09 in the first round in the main card opener.
The 23-year-old Pico debuted as a professional with Bellator in 2017 as the most decorated prospect in MMA history after the Golden Gloves boxing titles and a close spot at the Olympics for wrestling. However, prior to this current streak, he had lost two consecutive games by knockout.
Pico, a California native, has begun to succeed since switching training camps to Jackson Wink MMA in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the home of UFC stars like Jon Jones and Holly Holm. Instead of fighting and looking for quick knockouts like he did in previous fights, Pico went early to his wrestling, knocked down Hatley, landed damaging, and ended with a choke. Pico has finished his six professional victories, but this was the first by submission.
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