Sergio Pettis just has a way with throwing spinning stuff and scoring comeback wins.
After delivering a spinning backfist late in his fight against Kyoji Horiguchi to earn a knockout back in 2021, Pettis nearly did the same thing — except this time with a spinning back elbow — to demolish Magomed Magomedov at PFL Dubai on Saturday.
With Magomedov pursuing a takedown, Pettis uncorked the perfectly timed elbow that sent the Russian crashing to the canvas in a heap. Pettis delivered one more punch as the referee
rushed in to stop the fight with the end coming at 4:31 in round two.
“I’ve always got faith in myself,” Pettis said about his comeback win. “He was talking to me the whole fight, overconfidence and I think that bit him in the butt.”
Prior to the knockout it appeared Magomedov was cruising to victory after he repeatedly took Pettis to the ground and showed off his grappling acumen. Magomedov was like a blanket on top of Pettis, smothering the former Bellator champion with pressure and constantly attempting to advance his position so he never gave his opponent a moment to rest.
It was a dominant showing from Magomedov right up until the moment when he rushed forward looking for another takedown but this time Pettis was ready. He turned and launched the spinning back elbow that absolutely clubbed Magomedov and knocked him out before he could even fall to the floor.
A truly impressive showing from Pettis to once again prove he may be down but he’s never out. With the win, Pettis said he hopes for a title fight in his next outing as PFL looks to crown a new bantamweight champion following Patchy Mix leaving the promotion to sign with the UFC.
