Sergio Pettis secures comeback KO over Kyoji Horiguchi at Bellator 272
Bellator MMA returned to the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut tonight, December 3, 2021, for Bellator 272, headlined by two of the greatest talents outside the UFC in Sergio Pettis and Kyoji Horiguchi. RESULT OF THE FIGHT BELOW.
For starters, Pettis looked to make the first defense of his newly claimed Bellator bantamweight championship, and Horiguchi hoped to regain the throne he never lost in a fight.
Prior to joining the UFC, and prior to challenging then champion Demetrious Johnson for the UFC flyweight championship, something Pettis never worked his way up to, Horiguchi became the Shooto bantamweight champion.
Following his defeat to Johnson, the Japanese prodigy then won his next three straight before moving over to Rizin.
Horiguchi next won seven straight bouts under the Rizin banner, before winning that belt as well. Bellator cross-promoted an event with Rizin not long after, where he also won the Bellator bantamweight championship.
Now Horiguchi was a multi-promotion champion at the same time, and that’s a huge deal. He was later stripped of his Rizin title for inactivity, before he won it back in his last fight, avenging his most recent defeat.
Then Horiguchi decided to vacate the Bellator throne due to an injury he suffered that kept him out for over a year, which saw Juan Archuleta become king to the division in his absence.
Pettis, like Horiguchi, is a UFC veteran, and he, like Horiguchi, entered the promotion as a champion (RFA &NAFC).
Pettis picked up wins over current UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno and one of the best fighters ever to have never won a title, a prime Joseph Benavidez whilst inside the promotion.
Following his departure, Pettis won two straight before challenging Archuleta for the belt, a fight he won all five rounds of.
Now, since defeating Archuleta, a four-division KOTC champion, and of course Bellator champion who came into their bout with a record of 25-2, as mentioned above, he looks to defend it against an incredibly dangerous opponent here tonight.
Horiguchi comes in tonight with a record of 29-3, while Pettis comes in sitting comfortably at 21-5.
Many of us thought Pettis’ road would be easier in Bellator, it wouldn’t appear so.
Continue reading to see how this epic bantamweight championship went down:
Official Result: Sergio Pettis def. Kyoji Horiguchi via KO (spinning back fist) at 3:24 of round four
Round 1
Horiguchi makes it very tough for Pettis to get going, as his footwork and array of attack is a bit much to deal with at the start.
Horiguchi secures a takedown, and he lands a number of leg kicks, some of which were followed up by nice shots.
10-9 challenger.
Round 2
The former champion picks up at the start of the second where he left off in round one, and midway through the round he secures another beautiful takedown. Only this time he stays on top of Pettis pounding away for a couple minutes.
Pettis is able to get back up, but things aren’t looking up for him.
20-18 challenger
Round 3
Horiguchi is giving Pettis zero chance in this fight. He’s giving him no space and overwhelming the champion in a way we haven’t seen in some time.
After securing another takedown, Horiguchi takes the champions back, before they’re back to the center.
We know Pettis is a 2nd-degree black belt in Taewkondo, as well as boasting black belts in kickboxing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but Horiguchi is a 2nd-degree black belt in Shotokan karate, and he’s a Class-A Shootist. His ability to mix everything together seems much more effective than Pettis’.
30-27 challenger after three.
Round 4
Not long into the fourth and Horiguchi takes Pettis down once again, meaning he’s secured a takedown in each round thus far through four.
However, Pettis gets back up once again and they’re back to striking range.
Pettis is visibly swinging for the fences at this point, and he lands a beautiful shovel hook to the body of the challenger, his best strike of the fight. Horiguchi then ties up with Pettis again, but the champion separates.
As he separates, Pettis throws a head kick, which misses, and a spinning back fist immediately follows, which Horiguchi saw none of. It caught him as clean as it could’ve and that was all she wrote.
After being dominated for three straight rounds, quite badly we might add, Pettis comes through with a flashy, yet devastating knockout finish. The last time he knocked an opponent out was in June of 2013, for reference.
This is why championship fights are five rounds!
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