Sergio Pettis will make his first Bellator foray early next year.
The UFC veteran will square off against Alfred Khashakyan in a bantamweight bout at Bellator 238 at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., on Jan. 25. Sherdog.com confirmed the booking with a promotion official following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com. Bellator 238 is headlined by a women’s featherweight title bout between Julia Budd and Cristiane Justino.
Pettis parted ways with the UFC earlier this year following a 14-bout stint with the Las Vegas-based promotion. The Roufusport product competed at both flyweight and bantamweight in the UFC but will remain at 135 pounds in Bellator. Pettis is coming off a unanimous decision triumph against Tyson Nam at UFC Fight Night 159 on Sept. 21.
Khashakyan might be best known for facing Sean O’Malley on the first season of Dana White’s Contender Series, where he suffered a first-round knockout loss in July 2017. He has won three straight fights since that defeat. The Glendale Fighting Club representative owns an 11-4 professional record, with all of his wins coming via KO or TKO.