For nearly all of the Bellator 272 main event, it appeared Sergio Pettis’ time as bantamweight champion was at an end. Pettis was dominated by former champion Kyoji Horiguchi from the opening bell. Then, in the fourth round, Pettis reminded everyone that everything can change on one shot, knocking out Horiguchi with a perfectly-timed spinning backfist.
With the win, Pettis not only retained his title but also remained undefeated in the Bellator cage. The fight with Horiguchi, who had previously held the bantamweight title before having to vacate it due to injury, was the first title defense for Pettis. Pettis maintained his No. 1 spot at bantamweight in the Bellator MMA Fighter Rankings with the victory.
Pettis’ shocking comeback victory also improved his standing in the pound-for-pound list, moving up two spots to No. 6.
Below are the top-10 pound-for-pound rankings for both the men and women. The full top-10 rankings for each division within the promotion can be found here. The rankings are voted on by 17 members of the media.
Editor’s note: CBS Sports insiders Brian Campbell and Shakiel Mahjouri are members of the 17-person voting panel. Bellator and CBS Sports are both owned by ViacomCBS.
Bellator Rankings (Dec. 7)
Men’s pound-for-pound
|
1. AJ McKee |
18-0 |
|
2. Vadim Nemkov |
15-2 |
|
3. Patricio Pitbull |
32-5 |
|
4. Gegard Mousasi |
48-7-2 |
|
5. Yaroslav Amosov |
26-0 |
|
6. Sergio Pettis |
22-5 |
|
7. Corey Anderson |
16-5 |
|
8. Ryan Bader |
28-7 |
|
9. Michael Page |
20-1 |
|
10. Valentin Moldavsky |
11-1 |
Women’s pound-for-pound
|
1. Cris Cyborg |
24-2 |
|
2. Juliana Velasquez |
12-0 |
|
3. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane |
11-1 |
|
4. Liz Carmouche |
16-7 |
|
5. Denise Kielholtz |
6-3 |
|
6. Arlene Blencowe |
14-8 |
|
7. Cat Zingano |
12-4 |
|
8. Kana Watanabe |
10-1-1 |
|
9. Leah McCourt |
6-1 |
|
10. Leslie Smith |
12-9-1 |
Other notable results
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Featherweight: Jeremy Kennedy picked up a dominant win over Emmanuel Sanchez in the night’s co-main event. Kennedy rose two spots in the featherweight rankings to No. 7. Sanchez lost ground in the division, dropping two spots to No. 6.
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Bantamweight: Josh Hill defeated Jared Scoggins by knockout. Hill’s impressive victory was enough to officially land him in the role of alternate for the upcoming Bantamweight Grand Prix. Hill slipped a spot in the rankings to No. 8, however, as a result of Horiguchi officially entering the rankings.
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Middleweight: Johnny Eblen took only 71 seconds to dispatch Collin Huckbody. The win over Huckbody moved Eblen to the No. 4 spot at 185 pounds.
