The Bellator
MMA bantamweight championship is now officially on the line in
the main event of
Bellator 272.
Both current champion Sergio
Pettis and former titleholder Kyoji
Horiguchi successfully made weight for the bout. This is
Horiguchi’s first bout with the promotion since he vacated the
strap in 2019 due to injury. All other fighters made weight on the
card except for Jared
Scoggins, who came in four pounds over the bantamweight limit
for his bout against Josh Hill.
Pettis (21-5) is finally living up to his nickname of “The Phenom,”
as he is currently undefeated within the promotion. Making his
Bellator debut in 2020, the Milwaukee-based fighter rattled off
wins over Alfred
Khashakyan and Ricky
Bandejas to earn a crack at the crown. In May, he topped champ
Juan
Archuleta to capture the throne. The defending champion
officially stepped on the scale at 134 pounds.
Horiguchi (29-3) captured the Bellator bantamweight belt in 2019 by
defeating Darrion
Caldwell. However, he would return to Japan for two bouts
against Kai
Asakura. While he lost the first in a shocking knockout, he
ended 2020 by exacting revenge on Asakura, and will now return to
U.S. soil to vie for the gold he never lost inside the Bellator
cage. Horiguchi weighed 134.5 pounds.
Bellator 272’s main card will air live on Showtime on Friday at 10
p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. Prelims will begin at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.
Bellator 272 Weigh-in Results:
Sergio
Pettis (134) vs. Kyoji
Horiguchi (134.5)
Jeremy
Kennedy (145.75) vs. Emmanuel
Sanchez (145.25)
Josh
Hill (135.75) vs. Jared
Scoggins (140)*
Johnny
Eblen (185) vs. Collin
Huckbody (185)
Bobby
King (156) vs. Alexandr
Shabliy (155.4)
John
de Jesus (145.6) vs. Kai Kamaka
III (146)
Levan
Chokheli (170.8) vs. Vinicius
de Jesus (169.6)
Jacob
Bohn (154.8) vs. Justin
Montalvo (154.8)
Mike
Hamel (155.8) vs. Killys Mota
(155.2)
Spike
Carlyle (159) vs. Dan Moret
(159.6)
Kyle
Crutchmer (171) vs. Oliver
Enkamp (170)
* Scoggins weighed in four pounds heavy for his bantamweight
match and has been fined a percentage of his purse.