Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Bellator Fights

5. Sergio Pettis vs. Kyoji Horiguchi | Bellator 272 (Dec. 3, 2021)

MMA is a cruel sport, and nowhere is that seen better than Pettis and Horiguchi’s clash for the Bellator bantamweight title in December 2021. To begin with, this was a huge showdown, among the biggest fights of the year in any promotion. Pettis had been a Top 5 flyweight in the UFC and at only 26 years old, had jumped to Bellator. He didn't disappoint, looking absolutely sensational in his first three outings, significantly improved from the UFC, with his third victory being over Juan Archuleta to become the new Bellator bantamweight champion. However, former Rizin and Bellator bantamweight champion Horiguchi had something to say about that. He was still the lineal Bellator bantamweight king, having never lost his crown after two straight wins over Darrion Caldwell. Instead, he had vacated the title due to injury. This was really the story of two fights. One lasted over 18 minutes, and the other about two seconds. For over three and half rounds, Horiguchi delivered a masterful performance. He used terrific movement on the outside to confuse Pettis, employed his deadly kicks, engaged in the boxing, and at the perfect moment, would take the champion down. Again and again he did this, with the younger and better of the Pettis brothers having no answer. This was a truly outstanding level of grappling on display, too. Consider that Pettis had won the title from Archuleta, a former NCAA Division I wrestler who is great at switching gears from striking to wrestling, taking down opponents repeatedly. Archuleta had no success against Pettis, who showed superb takedown defense and easily got up the one or two times he was dragged down. Yet against Horiguchi, Pettis was being taken down at will, with no counter.

Deep into the fourth round, Pettis had no chance to win a decision, as he had clearly lost the first three stanzas. Nor did a knockout seem likely. Horiguchi had only been knocked out once in his great career, early in Rizin against huge puncher Kai Asakura. Pettis, meanwhile, was a brilliant striker but not known for his power, having last recorded a knockout all the way back in 2013, before he had even joined the UFC. He had more submission wins than knockouts, and that didn't seem likely against the Japanese fighter, either. Pettis then uncorked what would become Sherdog's 2021 Knockout of the Year. First, he threw a sudden right head kick from close distance, an athletic, lovely strike that had garnered him two of his then three knockout wins. Horiguchi, however, easily ducked it. However, Pettis continued rotating with the kick, throwing out his left hand as a spinning backfist. Despite the extreme difficulty of landing the blow, it connected perfectly on Horiguchi's chin, crashing him to the floor in an unconscious, stiff pose. Pettis looked to deliver a hammerfist, but the referee wisely stopped him, as the Japanese great wouldn't be waking up for some time. It was a cruel twist of fate for Horiguchi, who had fought amazingly the whole way through, but was caught with one of the most unique, stellar knockouts in the history of the sport. And it was also an amazing demonstration of Pettis' championship heart and resilience. Truly, an important, dramatic, and eye-popping classic.

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