Sergio Jerome Pettis (born August 18, 1993) is an American

mixed martial artist 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, incorpo ...

who is currently signed with

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

, where he is the current Bellator Bantamweight Champion. Prior to signing with Bellator, Pettis competed in the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

(UFC), where he fought in both the Bantamweight and

Flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing above 49 kg (108 lb) and up to 51 kg (112 lb). Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of b ...

divisions. As of December 13, 2022, he is #8 in the Bellator men's pound-for-pound rankings. He holds notable victories over

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 Ranking ...

Joseph Benavidez Joseph Rolando Benavidez (born July 31, 1984) is an American former professional mixed martial artist. He competed in the Flyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Benavidez was born on July 31, 1984, in San An ...

Juan Archuleta Juan Archuleta (born September 13, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division of Bellator MMA, and he is the former Bellator Bantamweight Champion. A professional MMA competitor since 2013, he has also ...

, and

Brandon Moreno Brandon Carrillo Moreno (born December 7, 1993) is a Mexican professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Flyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Flyweight Champion, and the c ...

Background

Pettis was born on January 27, 1987, to Annette (née Garcia) and Eugene Pettis Jr. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Along with his older brother former UFC Lightweight Champion

Anthony Pettis Anthony Paul Pettis (born January 27, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to the Professional Fighters League. Pettis formerly fought in the Welterweight, Lightweight, and Featherweight divisions of th ...

, who competes in the lightweight division, and oldest brother Reynaldo Pettis, he grew up in the south side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Pettis is descended from Mexicans, with his mother being Mexican and his father being Puerto Rican. To escape prejudice, his grandpa Eugenio Pérez anglicised the family name from Pérez to Pettis. Pettis was a student at

Pius XI High School Pius XI High School is a private Catholic high school located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Its enrollment is approximately 900. History Pius XI High School, named in honor of Pope Pius XI, was fou ...

. Pettis' father was fatally stabbed by a robber on November 12, 2003, at a friend's residence.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Pettis turned pro on September 10, 2011, against Kyle Vivian at Canadian Fighting Championship 7. He won via TKO in the first round. On January 7, 2012, Sergio took on Mike Lindquist at Madtown Throwdown 26. He won via submission in round one. Pettis fought Tom McKenna at LFC 53. He won via first round submission. Pettis then took on Tony Zelinski at NAFC: Unleashed. He won via second-round TKO. Pettis took on Chris Haney at NAFC: Colosseum. He won via unanimous decision. In his next fight, Pettis defeated Jimmy Jones via unanimous decision at RFA 4-Griffin vs Escudero. Pettis was originally set to face Matt Manzanares at Resurrection Fighting Alliance 7, but Manzanares was forced out of the bout due to injury. RFA could not find another opponent for Sergio, therefore the bout was scrapped. Pettis is now set to face Josh Robinson at NAFC: Battleground. Pettis improved his record to an unblemished 7–0 with the unanimous decision victory. Resurrection Fighting Alliance announced that Pettis will take on UFC vet

Jeff Curran Jeffrey Michael Curran (born September 2, 1977) is an American retired professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 1998, Curran has fought at a number of different weight classes for a large number of promotions includin ...

for the inaugural RFA Flyweight Championship at RFA 8 on June 21, 2013, inside the historic The Rave/Eagles Club Milwaukee, Wisc. Curran was forced out of the bout due to personal reasons, RFA President

Ed Soares Ed Soares is an American of Brazilian descent born in Redondo Beach, California to Brazilian parents. He is known for being the manager of a number of Brazilian Mixed martial arts fighters, including Anderson Silva, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, Pat ...

reported that Dillard Pegg will take his place and fight Pettis for the flyweight title. He won via KO in the first round to win the RFA flyweight title. Pettis faced James Porter for the NAFC Bantamweight Championship, at NAFC: Battle in the Ballroom on September 28, 2013. Pettis won via first round submission and was subsequently signed by the UFC.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Pettis was expected to make his promotional debut against Vaughan Lee in a bantamweight bout on November 16, 2013, at UFC 167. A week before the fight Lee was forced out of the bout due to injury and was replaced by

Will Campuzano William Campuzano (born May 27, 1986) is a Mexican-American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Bantamweight division. A professional competitor since 2008, Campuzano has also formerly competed for the UFC, WEC, Vale Tud ...

. Pettis won the fight via unanimous decision. In his second UFC bout, Pettis faced

Alex Caceres Alex Caceres (born June 20, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the featherweight division of the UFC. A professional MMA competitor since 2008, Caceres mostly competed in his regional circuit, before signing with the Ult ...

at UFC on Fox 10 on January 25, 2014. He lost the back-and-forth fight via rear-naked choke submission late in the third round. Despite the loss, Pettis won a ''Fight of the Night'' bonus award for the bout. Pettis faced Yaotzin Meza on June 7, 2014, at UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs. Khabilov. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Pettis faced

Matt Hobar Matthew Hobar (born January 7, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the UFC's bantamweight division. A professional competitor since 2011, Hobar also formerly competed for Legacy Fighting Championship and Shark Fights. He is ...

on December 6, 2014, at UFC 181. He won the fight via unanimous decision. The bout also earned Pettis his second ''Fight of the Night'' bonus award. Pettis faced Ryan Benoit in a flyweight bout on March 14, 2015, at UFC 185. After winning the first round, Pettis was dropped by left hook and finished off with a flurry of ground and pound from Benoit in the second round. Pettis faced

Chris Cariaso Chris Vincent Cariaso (born May 27, 1981) is a retired Filipino-American mixed martial artist who competed as a Flyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Personal Cariaso is of Filipino descent. Mixed martial arts career Since turning p ...

on October 3, 2015, at

UFC 192 The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Pettis faced Chris Kelades on April 23, 2016, at

UFC 197 ''UFC 197: Jones vs. Saint Preux'' was a mixed martial arts event held on April 23, 2016, at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background The event's number was initially planned for an event taking place on March 5, 2016 at HSBC Are ...

. Pettis won the fight by unanimous decision. Sergio was dominating most of the exchanges and defending takedowns by attacking the neck. He stunned Moraga many times and arguably won all 3 rounds. Pettis called out Jussier Formiga in his post fight interview. Pettis was expected to face Louis Smolka on October 1, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 96. However, Pettis pulled out of the fight during the week leading up to the event citing what his trainer described as "a minor injury" and was replaced by promotional newcomer Brandon Moreno. Pettis was expected to face Jussier Formiga on January 15, 2017, at UFC Fight Night 103. However, Formiga pulled out of the fight in late December and was replaced by John Moraga. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Pettis was expected to face

Henry Cejudo Henry Cejudo (born February 9, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist and freestyle wrestler. He is the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Flyweight Champion and Bantamweight Champion. He is the fourth UFC fighter to h ...

on May 13, 2017, at UFC 211. However, on May 10, Cejudo pulled out of the fight with a hand injury and the bout was canceled. Pettis faced

on August 5, 2017, in the main event at UFC Fight Night 114. He won the bout via unanimous decision. A rescheduled fight with Cejudo took place on December 2, 2017, at UFC 218. Pettis lost the fight by unanimous decision. Pettis faced

on June 9, 2018, at UFC 225. He won the back-and-forth fight via split decision. Pettis faced Jussier Formiga on October 6, 2018, at

UFC 229 ''UFC 229: Khabib vs. McGregor ''was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) that was held on October 6, 2018, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United Stat ...

. He lost the fight via unanimous decision After the fight, Pettis' head coach Duke Roufus announced that Sergio is returning to the bantamweight division. Pettis faced Rob Font in a bantamweight bout, on December 15, 2018, at

UFC on Fox 31 ''UFC on Fox: Lee vs. Iaquinta 2'' (also known as ''UFC on Fox 31'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on December 15, 2018 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. B ...

. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Pettis was expected to face Ricardo Ramos on June 29, 2019, at UFC on ESPN 3. However, on June 15, 2019, it was reported that Pettis pulled out of the bout due to injury. Pettis was scheduled to face Alex Perez on September 21, 2019, at UFC on ESPN+ 17. However, Perez pulled out of the bout on August 26 citing an injury, and he was replaced by Tyson Nam. Pettis won the fight by unanimous decision. Pettis was scheduled to face

Kai Kara-France James Kaiwhare Kara-France (born March 26, 1993) is a New Zealand professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Flyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of August 1, 2022, he is #3 in the UFC flyweight ...

on December 14, 2019, at

UFC 245 ''UFC 245: Usman vs. Covington'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 14, 2019 at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States. Ba ...

. Later, news surfaced that Pettis fought out his contract with his previous fight with Nam, and is testing free agency.

Bellator MMA

On October 24, 2019, it was announced that Pettis signed a multi-fight deal with

. Pettis made his promotional debut at Bellator 238 on January 25, 2020, against Alfred Khashakyan. He was victorious via first round technical submission. Pettis faced Ricky Bandejas on July 24 at Bellator 242. He won the bout via unanimous decision. Pettis faced

for the Bellator Bantamweight World Championship at Bellator 258 on May 7, 2021. Pettis won the bout and the title by unanimous decision. Pettis made his first title defense against

on December 3, 2021, at Bellator 272. After losing the first three rounds, Pettis came back to win the fight via knockout in round four.

Title Reign and Bellator Bantamweight World Grand Prix

As his first title defense and also the first round bout of the $1 million Bellator Bantamweight World Grand Prix Tournament, Pettis was scheduled to face

Raufeon Stots Raufeon Stots (born December 16, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist and graduated collegiate wrestler currently competing in the bantamweight division of Bellator MMA, where he is the current Interim Bellator Bantamweight Champion. As a w ...

on April 23, 2022, at Bellator 279. However Pettis was forced to pull out of the bout and the Grand Prix after sustaining an injury that required surgery.

Personal life

Sergio is the youngest brother of

Anthony Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton, ...

and Rey Pettis. Sergio graduated from Pius XI Catholic High School located in Milwaukee, WI in June 2012. On November 23, 2003, their father, Eugene Pettis, Jr., was stabbed to death by a robber at a friend's house.

Championships and achievements

Mixed martial arts

** Bellator Bantamweight World Championship (One time, current) ***One successful title defense *

** Fight of the Night (Two times) vs.

, Matt Hobar * Resurrection Fighting Alliance **RFA Flyweight Championship (One time, First) *North American Fighting Championship **NAFC Bantamweight Championship (One time) *Cageside Press **Comeback of the Year 2021 (tied w/ Charles Oliveira) vs. Kyoji Horiguchi *

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

**2021 Finish of the Year vs.

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street (Manhattan), 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS ...

**2021 Bellator Knockout of the Year vs.

**2021 Bellator Fighter of the Year (tied with

A.J. McKee A. J. McKee (born April 7, 1995) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in Bellator's Featherweight and Lightweight division, where he is the former Bellator Featherweight Champion. As of February 28, 2023, he is #4 in the Bel ...

) * MMAjunkie.com **2021 December Knockout of the Month vs.

**2021 Knockout of the Year vs.

**2021 Comeback of the Year vs.

Sherdog Sherdog is an American website devoted to the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). It also has many forums and discussion pages on the many topics of MMA like records, promotions, etc. The site is a member of the CraveOnline network and provides MM ...

**2021 Knockout of the Year vs.

*LowKick MMA **2021 Comeback of the Year vs.

*MMASucka **2021 Knockout of the Year vs.

**2021 Comeback of the Year vs.

*Combat Press **2021 Comeback of the Year vs.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 22–5 ,

, KO (spinning backfist) , Bellator 272 , , align=center, 4 , align=center, 3:24 ,

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, Decision (unanimous) , Bellator 258 , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

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, Decision (split) , UFC 225 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 16–3 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC 218 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 16–2 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Pettis vs. Moreno , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Mexico , , - , Win , align=center, 15–2 , John Moraga , Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Rodríguez vs. Penn , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 14–2 , Chris Kelades , Decision (unanimous) ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 13–2 ,

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, Decision (unanimous) , UFC 181 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–1 , Yaotzin Meza , Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs. Khabilov , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–1 ,

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Thomson , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:39 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–0 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC 167 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Dillard Pegg , TKO (punches) , RFA 8 , June 21, 2013 , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:51 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Josh Robinson , Decision (unanimous) , NAFC: Battleground , March 29, 2013 , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Jimmy Jones , Decision (unanimous) , RFA 4 , November 2, 2012 , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Tom McKenna , Submission (guillotine choke) , LOF 53: Memorium , June 16, 2012 , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:52 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Chris Haney , Decision (unanimous) , NAFC: Colosseum , May 4, 2012 , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Mike Lindquist , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , Madtown Throwdown 26: The Return , January 7, 2012 , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:43 ,

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pettis, Sergio 1993 births American male mixed martial artists American male taekwondo practitioners Sportspeople from Milwaukee Mixed martial artists from Wisconsin American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu American sportspeople of Puerto Rican descent American mixed martial artists of Mexican descent Flyweight mixed martial artists Bantamweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing taekwondo Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Living people Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters