Tomorrow night in the main event of Bellator 258, we will get to see the bantamweight title fight we’ve been waiting for. The bantamweight champion Juan Archuleta (25-2) will be defending his title against Sergio Pettis (20-5).
Pettis has been perfect so far since making the jump from the UFC to Bellator. He made his debut with Bellator in early 2020 and he’s won both of his matchups thus far to earn himself this title shot.
Pettis has been in there with some of the best in the world including Henry Cejudo, Joseph Benavidez, Rob Font, and Brandon Moreno. During his time with the UFC, Pettis primarily fought at 125 pounds, but upon arriving at Bellator, he wanted to be a bantamweight.
Pettis has always had the talent and tomorrow he gets his chance to become a champion. However, winning that title tomorrow is not going to be easy. He will have his hands full with Juan Archuleta.
Archuleta made his Bellator debut in 2018 and he’s been nearly perfect since. In eight bouts with the promotion, Archuleta is 7-1 with his lone loss coming to Patricio Pitbull at 145 pounds.
That said, he’s been perfect in Bellator‘s bantamweight division. In his last fight, He won a decision over Patchy Mix to capture the title and he’s looking for Sergio Pettis to be his first successful title defense tomorrow night.
Bellator 258 Prediction
This Bellator main event is incredibly intriguing and I’m very curious to see how it plays out. Sergio Pettis is good everywhere, but he really shines when he’s able to kickbox from range.
Pettis has very clean technique and when he’s point fighting from the outside, he’s tough to deal with. Archuleta has good hands and he fights with a very strong pace. He is also incredibly smart in there and he knows when to push the pedal down and when to slow down.
We’ve seen Archuleta go to his wrestling some in the past and that could be a key at Bellator 258. If these two just strike from range for five rounds, I really like Sergio Pettis to get the win here. I think the combination of kicks and accuracy from distance will be on full display.
That said, I’m going to go with Juan Archuleta here by a razor close decision. I think the Bellator champion will do a good job of mixing in the grappling with striking. Even if he’s not able to get Pettis down, I think he’ll force enough clinches and get enough control to edge three rounds.
Prediction: Juan Archuleta by Split Decision