Bellator MMA made a ton of announcements this afternoon. Starting with the big news that the promotion was moving over to Showtime. Then we got the news of the light heavyweight Grand Prix.
Another major announcement for Bellator was the announcement of the bantamweight title fight. The promotion announced today that Juan Archuleta (25-2) would be making his first title defense against Sergio Pettis (20-5).
The two best bantamweights that Bellator has to offer will go head-to-head on May 7th. As mentioned, Archuleta will be making the first defense of his bantamweight title. Archuleta won the title against Patchy Mix back in September.
The Spaniard is one of the best fighters that the promotion has to offer. However, a world championship had always evaded him. That changed back at Bellator 246 when he took on Patchy Mix.
The fight was far from easy for Juan Archuleta. Patchy Mix got the best of the fight early on, however, Archuleta was just biting his time. After Mix slowed down in the championship rounds, that’s where Archuleta took over. He won by decision and finally won his Bellator title.
Bellator Bantamweight Title
Standing across the cage from Archuleta is going to be Sergio Pettis. Pettis has been around for a long time, but he has never had a world championship opportunity until now. However, he’s come close on a number of occasions.
Pettis really got going in the UFC much like his brother, Anthony Pettis. Sergio Pettis holds wins over some of the best flyweights in the UFC like Joseph Benavidez and Brandon Moreno. However, upon the move to Bellator, Pettis has stuck to the bantamweight division.
Pettis has won both of his fights so far in Bellator which sets up this title fight against Archuleta. This is a tremendous matchup and one that fight fans should be excited for. Will Archuleta continue his reign or will Sergio Pettis finally realize his dream of becoming a world champion? This should be a good one.