Four years ago, Sergio Pettis was behind on the scorecards against Kyoji Horiguchi when he landed a spinning backfist knockout to retain his Bellator title.
Now, in a very similar circumstance, Magomed Magomedov appeared to be near a finish of Pettis in the second round before Pettis pulled off a spinning back elbow to drop Magomedov out cold in a bantamweight title eliminator at PFL Champions Series 3.
Pettis connected with jabs and a brief trip early, while Magomedov answered with a flying knee and a takedown, ending the first round in top control. Magomedov then used his grappling to take over the second round, consistently bringing Pettis to the ground and locking in body triangles, threatening chokes on multiple occasions, seemingly near a finish.
But in the round’s closing seconds, Pettis countered a jumping knee from Magomedov with a side kick before landing a spinning back elbow that put Magomedov’s lights out and gave him the victory.
Sergio Pettis Scores Highlight KO Of Magomed Magomedov At PFL Champions Series 3
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Pettis, the former Bellator bantamweight champion, has now won two straight and eight of his last 10.
Magomedov has traded wins and losses consecutively since dropping a fight to Raufeon Stots in Bellator in 2021.
