Bellator 272 talking points: Sergio Pettis proves championship mettle in final fight night of 2021
- Published
Bellator 272: 'Are you kidding me?!' - Sergio Pettis spectacularly KOs Kyoji Horiguchi
The curtain came down on a thrilling year for Bellator on Friday night with Sergio Pettis and Kyoji Horiguchi headlining a night to remember.
Pettis remained bantamweight champion with a hail mary knockout blow, but there were plenty of other talking points from Bellator 272 including the unveiling of the next grand prix.
BBC Sport breaks down five of the things we learned from Bellator 272.
Pettis shows his championship mettle
When Pettis landed a perfectly timed spinning back fist on to the chin of Horiguchi, it was just his 19th successful strike in over three rounds of action. Horiguchi had landed 73 strikes.
Dominated is the only way to describe Pettis' first three rounds but then he found that knockout blow. Bellator's new five-round title fight structure allowed Pettis to demonstrate his championship mettle and he did just that.
It didn't hurt that Pettis' corner "lit a fire under his ass" before the fourth round, as Bellator commentator Josh Thomson noted.
A missed head kick set up the spinning back fist in what will go down as one of the best knockouts of the year.
Pettis might have been in all sorts of trouble throughout the fight, but the American never lost heart and continued to look for openings. He told BBC Sport before the fight he had learned to "trust himself" in the cage and the 28-year-old used every ounce of that trust to keep the faith until he produced a stunning victory.
In his toughest fight to date in Bellator, Pettis showed the character of a champion.
Anything can happen at any time
Pettis was not the only fighter to pull off a remarkable comeback at the Mohegan Sun Arena. Spike Carlyle was on his way to a heavy loss to Dan Moret before he produced a rear-naked choke submission in the final round.
All three judges had Carlyle 20-18 down going into the third round before he pulled off that improbable comeback with a slick submission. Carlyle and Pettis prove a fight is never over until the final bell goes or the referee steps in, no matter how much damage you have taken or how many narrow escapes you have squeezed out of.
"I don't feel good at all right now, but I had to dig deep, "Carlyle said after the fight.
"This was not my power, that's for sure. That was supernatural what just happened right there."
Bantamweights get million dollar billing in 2022
James Gallagher is one of eight fighters in the bantamweight tournament
Bellator announced at their final fight night of the year that 2022 would see their bantamweights compete in an eight-man tournament for a million dollar prize (£755,700).
Bellator - alongside the Professional Fighters League - has brought the tournament format back on to the main stage of MMA in recent years. Bellator president Scott Coker has already overseen heavyweight, light heavyweight, welterweight and featherweight tournaments.
Now it's the bantamweights' turn to go after the $1m prize with champion Pettis, Japan's Horiguchi, Russia's Magomed Magomedov, Ireland's James Gallagher, Brazil's Leandro Higo and Americans Patchy Mix, Raufeon Stots and Juan Archuleta all confirmed as participants.
The bantamweight tournament is likely to kick off in March and could be Bellator's most hotly contested tournament to date with the prospect of a European champion on the cards should Gallagher or Magomedov live up to their potential.
"When you look at all eight guys, they're all killers," Coker said. "We said this has to be the division [to have the next grand prix]. This is probably one of the best divisions we have. To me whoever wins this tournament will be the best bantamweight in the world."
Horiguchi will be a favourite in tournament
Kyoji Horiguchi was beating Sergio Pettis heavily before the knockout
It might sound strange after his defeat to Pettis, but Horiguchi will be considered by many as the favourite in the upcoming tournament.
In his fight with Pettis, the former bantamweight belt holder demonstrated incredible speed and variety. Punishing calf kicks set up repeated takedowns and ground and pounds from the former champion.
Horiguchi (29-4) fell victim to a moment of pure brilliance from Pettis in what was a truly impressive performance from a fighter who has been fighting in Japan under the Rizin banner. Horiguchi will be confident he can make the final of the tournament and beat the reigning champion, should they meet in a winner-takes-all rematch.
Bader returns to heavyweight
Announcements came thick and fast at Bellator 272 including a host of upcoming championship fights that will kick off 2022. Ryan Bader (28-7) returns to heavyweight after his exit from the light heavyweight tournament to defend his belt against interim champion Valentin Moldavsky (11-1).
Middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi (58-7-2) defends his title against the unbeaten Austin Vanderford (11-0). And then there is also the final of the light heavyweight tournament which sees champion Vadim Nemkov (15-2) face Corey Anderson (16-5).
There are no official dates for the trio of championship fights but they are expected to land in the early stages of 2022.