Despite the fact that it has not been formalized by the promotion, new Bellator champion Juan Archuleta on Thursday claimed his to start with title protection is established.
Archuleta (25-2 MMA, 7-1 BMMA), though a visitor on “Live with Kelly and Ryan,” claimed he’ll combat Sergio Pettis (20-5 MMA, 2- BMMA) as the first defense of his bantamweight title at Bellator’s initially card immediately after the get started of the new year. The matchup is a person that has been presumed by a lot of, together with the two fighters, but not designed formal by Bellator.
“Our future battle, we’re capturing for the to start with (card) of the 12 months – the 1st card again (in 2021) from Sergio Pettis,” Archuleta mentioned on the show. “That’s the combat I originally needed for the belt.”
Rather, Archuleta took the vacant 135-pound title with a unanimous final decision over Patchy Blend at Bellator 246 in September. Now that he has the title, it’s presumed Pettis is at the major of the pack of challengers.
Pettis arrived to Bellator at the start of 2020 just after a lengthy operate in the UFC that saw him go 9-5 as the two a flyweight and bantamweight. In Bellator, Pettis has a submission of Alfred Khashakyan in January and a unanimous conclusion about Ricky Bandejas at Bellator 242 in July.
Though also displaying off his nevertheless-new hardware to the hosts, Archuleta also talked about how he contracted COVID-19 in July, weeks just before his struggle with Blend, as perfectly as what he loves to take in when he’s not in camp.
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