Sergio Pettis Addresses Ring Rust Ahead of Bellator 297
Sergio Pettis will return to the Bellator cage at Bellator 297 this Friday at Chicago’s Wintrust Arena. He has been out of commission since his stunning knock out of Kyoji Horiguchi at the end of 2021, and now he has to take on the likes of Bellator’s number-one ranked, featherweight and pound-for-pound champion, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire.
Pettis’ time away was due to an injury that required surgery so he had to watch and learn from the sidelines for the past 18 months. During the Bellator 297 media day, Pettis opened up about his time away and how this match against Pitbull is the toughest fight of his career.
“I’m blessed to be back here,” Pettis said of his time away. “ It’s been 18 months. I’ve learned a lot over the last year, more personal than anything, but I think I’ve done the right things to be ready.”
Pettis has already proven he can change for the better since his time in Bellator since he signed. When he departed the UFC, he left on a win and continued that streak right up until he became champion in May of 2021 when he defeated Juan Archuleta at Bellator 258. In his first title defense against Horiguchi, a fight he was seemingly losing changed in an instant when he delivered a spinning back fist he had prepared for in his training. So, he’s no stranger to the unpredictable ups and downs of mixed martial arts.
When asked about his teammate, Raufeon Stots loss in the bantamweight Grand Prix, Pettis reflected on his last fight and said, “It’s MMA. Anything can happen. I was losing a fight, then landed a spinning back fist. MMA is crazy.”
Crazy is something Pettis has learned to prepare for and while Pitbull’s title chase may seem crazy, Pettis still sees this return bout as the biggest fight of his career. He said, “This is the biggest fight of my career, for sure. Especially after the injury, getting thrown into the deep end, for sure.”
Pitbull’s reputation in Bellator speaks for itself so anyone that’s facing him already knows it is a hard task to face him. Add time away to that, then the concern for ring rust comes into question, not only for fans but the champion himself.
Pettis says this is new to him, “I don’t know anything about ring rust; it’s my first time dealing with ring rust. I think it’s more of a mental thing. I’m not putting that into my head at all. It’s going out there, being natural, and being me. If I’m me, I don’t think ring rust will be a problem at all. I’ve had a lot of stress that I’m ready to let loose of this Friday night.”
Bellator 297 airs live on SHOWTIME at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT, keep it locked on My MMA News for more coverage.
