Sergio Pettis laments knee injury layoff, but touts ‘best case scenario’ vs. ‘Bellator GOAT’ Patricio Pitbull
Sergio Pettis was just three months removed from becoming Bellator bantamweight champion, and he was about to embark on a grand prix tournament that could have solidified him as arguably the best 135-pound fighter in the sport.
Then the bottom fell out from under him.
As he was prepared to face friend and sometime teammate Raufeon Stots in the opening round of the grand prix, Pettis suffered a devastating knee injury. The setback not only knocked him out of the tournament, but required surgery that would keep him sidelined for over a year. It was just about the worst news possible for the 29-year-old veteran.
“The first couple of months were depressing, I’m not going to lie,” Pettis told MMA Fighting. “I couldn’t do what I usually do. I went from training for a fight to sitting at home and not moving.”
It took some time, but after Pettis started recovering from ACL surgery, he gained better perspective on the time off.
“I had the ACL repaired, and for a while there I couldn’t walk up the stairs, I couldn’t shower myself for a little bit,” Pettis said. “At first, I was like dang, this is a big shift from what I’m used to. But after a little while, I learned the importance of rehab [and] recovery, and I think it was a good reset for me.
“I’ve been so busy throughout my career for almost 12 years now, so I think it was unfortunately a necessary. It was necessary for me to go through this and learn outside the fight game.”
Dealing with a major surgery is never enjoyable, but Pettis said the long break also allowed the rest of his body to heal and recover from nagging injuries that fighters usually ignore for the sake of staying active.
While it was difficult watching the bantamweight division move forward without him, Pettis was ultimately happy his return was met with enthusiasm – and a massive opportunity to defend his belt against reigning Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull.
Pitbull, who previously also held the Bellator lightweight title, makes the move to 135 pounds for the first time on Friday at Bellator 297. Pitbull hopes to become a three-division champion.
“Best-case scenario, coming back and fighting the Bellator GOAT,” Pettis said about facing Pitbull. “Continuing my work from beating [Kyoji] Horiguchi. I had a lot of momentum, five fight win streak, a big knockout and a comeback knockout, and I learned so much from that fight that I didn’t get to show last year.
“I’m excited to put everything together. These moments in life, you need to go through them sometimes to prove how tough you are and so much you think you know about life that you don’t know. I’m excited to go out there June 16 and put it all out there.”
Pettis recognizes Pitbull’s pursuit of history as the first-ever Bellator fighter to hold titles across three different weight classes. He also understands the significance for his own career. As the incumbent bantamweight champion, he is already at the top of the Bellator division. But beating Pitbull could put him in the conversation as potentially the best 135-pound fighter on the planet.
“Definitely my biggest fight to date,” Pettis said. “Just the situation, coming off the ACL injury, if I could come back and put Patricio out, it’s going to look amazing on my resume. That’s why I’m here to fight. My last couple of opponents if you put their records together it’s ridiculous. I fought Juan Archeleta when he was 25-2 and I fought Horiguchi when he was like 29-2 or 29-3. Now fighting Patricio Pitbull at 35-5, they’ve got me over here on death row at Bellator. That’s what I love.
“If I beat Patricio, it puts my name in a whole new category. It puts me up among the top, top fighters. I do believe I’m one of the best fighters to do this at bantamweight. A win over Patricio would definitely make that clear for everybody.”