Bellator 272: Pettis vs. Horiguchi was a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

event produced by

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) is an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 and based in Santa Monica, California, owned and operated as a subsidiary of television and media cong ...

that took place on December 3, 2021 at the

Mohegan Sun Arena The Mohegan Sun Arena is a 10,000 seat multi-purpose arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, located inside the Mohegan Sun casino resort. The arena facility features of configurable exhibition space and a clear span. It was built by the Perini Buil ...

Uncasville, Connecticut Uncasville is an area in the New England town, town of Montville, Connecticut, Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is a Administrative divisions of Connecticut#Village, neighborhood, section of town, village in southeastern Montville, at the ...

Background

Sergio Pettis Sergio Jerome Pettis (born August 18, 1993) is an American mixed martial artist who is currently signed with Bellator MMA, where he is the current Bellator Bantamweight Champion. Prior to signing with Bellator, Pettis competed in the Ultimate Fig ...

made his first defence of the

Bellator Bantamweight World Championship Bellator MMA (formerly known as "Bellator Fighting Championships") is an American mixed martial arts promotion, and the following is a history of its champions in each weight class. At the time of its inception in 2008, CEO Bjorn Rebney founded B ...

after winning his first major promotional title in May when he defeated then-champ

Juan Archuleta Juan Archuleta (born September 13, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight (MMA), Bantamweight division of Bellator MMA, and he is the former Bellator Bantamweight Champion. A professional MMA competitor sinc ...

by unanimous decision in the main event of

Bellator 258 Bellator 258: Archuleta vs. Pettis was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on May 7, 2021 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. This fight card is notable for being Anthony Johnson's final fight before ...

Kyoji Horiguchi is a Japanese mixed martial artist currently competing in Bellator MMA and Rizin FF in the Flyweight division. He is the former bantamweight champion in both organizations. As of December 13, 2022, he is #6 in the Bellator Bantamweight Rankings ...

, meanwhile, competed under the

Bellator Bellator, warrior in Latin, may refer to: * Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States * Bishop Bellator of Archaeological site of Sbeitla, Sufetula (5th century) Taxonomy * Bellator (fish), ''Bellator'' (fish), a fis ...

banner for the first time as a rostered fighter on a multifight deal. In June 2019, Horiguchi was lent by

RIZIN Rizin Fighting Federation (Rizin FF or Rizin) is a Japanese mixed martial arts organization created in 2015 by the former Pride Fighting Championships and Dream Stage Entertainment president Nobuyuki Sakakibara. Rizin was founded to be the spir ...

to Bellator for a one-off fight against

Darrion Caldwell Darrion Caldwell (born December 19, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist and graduated collegiate wrestler, who currently competes in the bantamweight division of Bellator MMA, where he is the former Bellator Bantamweight World Champion ...

– a bout Horiguchi won by unanimous decision to become champion. He later vacated the title after Horiguchi suffered a knee injury that forced him to relinquish the title while he was recovering from surgery. A featherweight bout between John de Jesus and Keoni Diggs was scheduled for this event. However, Diggs had to pull out due to unknown reasons and was replaced by

Kai Kamaka III Jonathan Kai Kamaka III (born January 5, 1995) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Featherweight division of Bellator MMA. He also competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Kai started training martia ...

. A lightweight bout between Dan Moret and Mandel Nallo was scheduled for this event. Nallo subsequently pulled out of the bout and was replaced by Ricardo Seixas. Seixas would pull out of the bout due to unknown reasons and was replaced by Spike Carlyle, with the bout being a catchweight bout at 160 lb. A lightweight bout between Jay Jay Wilson and Alfie Davis was scheduled for this event, however Davis pulled out of the bout due to unknown reasons. At the weigh-ins, Jared Scoggins missed weight for his bout, weighing in at 140 pounds, 4 pounds over the bantamweight non-title fight limit. The bout proceeded at catchweight and Scoggins was fined 35% of his purse which went to his opponent Josh Hill.

Results

References

{{2021 in mixed martial arts Bellator MMA events Events in Uncasville, Connecticut 2021 in mixed martial arts December 2021 sports events in the United States 2021 in sports in Connecticut Mixed martial arts in Connecticut Sports competitions in Connecticut

Background

Results

See also

References