“I’m not going to lie – before the fight, I told my girlfriend, ‘If I lose to someone, it’s to Pitbull, and that’s fine,'” the American said at a press conference after the Bellator 297 tournament. “He’s a legend. There was complete chaos in my head – I was nervous and afraid. Plus, I had eighteen months of downtime – I forgot these feelings. I’m the exact opposite of Nate Diaz, so to paraphrase him, I’m still surprised, f***ing!”
“I had to deal with all of this. I had a very busy day before the fight. I paced back and forth, sweating non-stop. I was definitely nervous. Perhaps this is what set me up in the best way and made me show the best that I am capable of. I thought I might lose, but I was willing to take risks and wasn’t afraid of losing. It was a strange feeling – I should look into it.”
Pettis’ next opponent will be interim division champion Patrick Meeks, winner of the Bellator Grand Prix.
“It’s just amazing. I have a clear understanding of what awaits me. Last year I had no goals other than recovery, and now I have a victory over Pitbull, we have a fight with Meeks ahead, and we have enough tough guys in the division. I hope you enjoyed my performance because it looked good in my head.”
The bantamweight title fight between Sergio Pettis and Patricio Freire went all five rounds and ended with the American winning a unanimous decision with a score of 49-46 and 50-45 twice.