Bellator 258 results: Sergio Pettis outworks Juan Archuleta for bantamweight title

Sergio Pettis spent the bulk of 25 minutes staying calm, cool and collected against Juan Archuleta.

Pettis (21-5 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) avoided most of Archuleta’s biggest punches, landed plenty of jabs and counters, and left with the bantamweight title. Pettis beat Archuleta (25-3 MMA, 7-2 BMMA) with a unanimous decision on scores of 50-45 and a pair of 49-46s.

Pettis now is champion of a major organization the way his brother was. Anthony Pettis was a lightweight champion in the UFC and WEC. The bantamweight title bout was the Bellator 258 main event at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The fight aired on Showtime.

Archuleta worked from the outside and circled away from Pettis until about 50 seconds in, they fired off some quick hands in an exchange. A few moments later, the scene repeated itself, and again neither fighter landed cleanly. Archuleta shot for a takedown and briefly got it, but Pettis worked back and went into defensive mode to try to stop Archuleta’s continued push to drag the fight to the canvas.

Once Pettis got reset in the center, the two traded punches. With 75 seconds left, Pettis landed a clean right hand, and a few seconds later he landed another one. Archuleta worked kicks down the stretch ahead of a wild scramble on the canvas at the bell.

In the second, Archuleta put Pettis on the canvas with a takedown about 75 seconds in. Pettis worked nicely back to his feet. Archuleta had his back, but Pettis turned through it and got back to the center of the cage. Archuleta threw big a few times, but Pettis’ continued to work his jab and counter punches. And when Archuleta moved in with bad intentions, Pettis often was just out of the way of the damage. Archuleta was bleeding with a couple minutes left in the second round.

When Archuleta threw, the punches were big and often winding. Pettis’ attacks weren’t as flashy, but seemed to be just as effective.

A minute into the fourth, Archuleta drove for a takedown, and it was there. But it took only a second to get back to his feet. And once there, Pettis landed a pair of big right hands, arguably his best of the fight. Two minutes in, Pettis landed a perfect combination that popped the champ’s head from side to side. And when Archuleta came in a few moments later, Pettis again landed cleanly.

In the final frame, Archuleta came out aggressive and may have thought he needed a finish to win the fight. But Pettis stood his ground the same way he had done the first four rounds. But with two minutes left, Archuleta picked Pettis up and slammed him to the canvas with authority. Archuleta tried to work from up top, but wasn’t able to get much going. Pettis got back to his feet with 30 seconds left and stayed upright until the bell.

Up-to-the-minute Bellator 258 results include:

• Sergio Pettis def. Juan Archuleta via unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 49-46) – to win bantamweight title
• Anthony Johnson def. Jose Augusto via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 1:30
• Peter Queally def. Patricky Freire via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) – Round 3, 0:01
• Michael Page def. Derek Anderson via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) – Round 1, 5:00
• Raufeon Stots def. Josh Hill via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Lorenz Larkin def. Rafael Carvalho via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Patchy Mix def. Albert Morales via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 3, 2:40
• Omar Hussein vs. Logan Storley* – scrapped due to Hussein failed medicals
• Johnny Eblen def. Daniel Madrid via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:44
• Johnny Campbell def. Henry Corrales via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:12
• Johnny Soto def. Weber Almeida via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Erik Perez def. Blaine Shutt via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)