Patricio Pitbull stepped into the Bellator cage against Sergio Pettis on Friday night, looking to make history as the promotion’s first-ever three-division world champion.
Emanating from Chi-Town, Bellator 297 featured two massive title tilts, the first pitting reigning featherweight titleholder Patricio Pitbull against defending bantamweight champion Sergio Pettis. Making his first appearance since a December 2021 knockout of Kyoji Horiguchi, Pettis sought to successfully defend his title for the second time, keeping Pitbull from etching his name in the history books once again.
Things started off relatively slow in the opening round, with both fighters downloading information on one another. Getting their looks, things picked up in the second with both fighters having their moments, but the biggest came from Pettis, who threw a spinning wheel kick that landed glancingly with mere seconds left in the second. Pitbull was clearly feeling the effects as he immediately began to back up and protect himself in an effort to make it out of the round.
Pettis came out with a very noticeable wave of confidence in the third round. ‘The Phenom’ began to pick apart Pitbull, showing off his speed which was far greater than that of his opposition. Struggling to get anything going on his feet, Pitbull moved in with 30 seconds left in the third and landed a solid takedown but was unable to capitalize on it before the round came to a close.
In the championship rounds, Sergio Pettis was essentially on autopilot as Pitbull simply couldn’t muster any viable offense outside of the occasional takedown attempt. Of course, that didn’t stop Pitbull from raising his hand following the final bell, suggesting he won the fight. The judges did not agree.
Official Result: Sergio Pettis def. Patricio Pitbull via unanimous decision (49-46, 50-45, 50-45)
