Sergio Pettis KOs Kyoji Horiguchi – Bellator 272 Highlights

Sergio Pettis

Bellator bantamweight champion Sergio Pettis defends his title for the first time against a former titleholder, Kyoji Horiguchi.

Let’s see how it plays out.

Round 1 begins and Horiguchi is the more active fighter in the opening minutes. He’s using his speed and movement on the feet to dictate the range, and Pettis seems a bit tentative with his combinations. Horiguchi nearly gets a takedown, but Pettis is able to scramble out of it and work back up to the feet. At the end of the round, Horiguchi lands a couple of nasty body kicks to Pettis’ solar plexus.

Round 2 opens up with Horiguchi continuing to push the pace on Pettis and ends up getting the fight to the ground. After landing some hard ground-and-pound from the top mount, Pettis lands a hard up-kick that opens up a cut underneath Horiguchi’s eye. Despite the kick, Horiguchi is able to resume position and control the fight on the ground.

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Pettis begins to find his rhythm in Round 3 with some stiff leg kicks. But, Horiguchi’s speed is still an issue that Pettis is having problems dealing with. Horiguchi transitions beautifully from a right uppercut into a takedown near the fence and keeps up his high volume.

In Round 4, Horiguchi comes forward like a freight train and lands another hard takedown on Pettis. But, Pettis miraculously finds a second wind and lands some hard punches to the body as the fight moves back to the feet. Pettis counters a clinch attempt from Horiguchi and lands a nasty spinning back fist that knocks Horiguchi out cold to retain the bantamweight throne.

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Check out the highlights from Pettis’ incredible win over Horiguchi.