Bellator 272: Sergio Pettis starches Kyoji Horiguchi with spectacular spinning back fist KO to retain bantamweight belt
- Having felt like he was ‘babysitting’ the belt, Pettis solidifies his status with a knockout for the ages against legendary Japanese fighter
- ‘I came out here, got beat up for four rounds pretty much … I thought, I’ve got to do something spectacular,’ says the American
Sergio Pettis is no longer “babysitting” the Bellator bantamweight title, that’s for sure, after pulling out a spectacular spinning back fist KO of Kyoji Horiguchi on Friday night.
Rizin bantamweight champion Horiguchi, who was looking to reclaim the belt he was forced to vacate through injury, was cruising towards a decision after dominating through three rounds of the Bellator 272 main event.
But he was stopped squarely in his tracks at the 3:24 mark of the fourth round, getting caught cold after ducking a close range head kick from Pettis as they exited the clinch. The 31-year-old Horiguchi (29-4) was out going down to the canvas.
Pettis swooped to follow up with a hammer fist, but realised he didn’t need to, and showed commendable restraint even before the referee pulled him away. After some wild celebrations, 28-year-old American Pettis (22-5) paused atop the cage and drank it all in at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
“I came out here, got beat up for four rounds pretty much,” Pettis (22-5) said. “Going into the last couple of rounds, I thought, ‘Man, I’m losing this fight, I gotta do something spectacular’. It came out at the right time.”
