{"id":331171,"date":"2019-11-07T10:28:22","date_gmt":"2019-11-07T18:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=331171"},"modified":"2019-11-07T10:28:22","modified_gmt":"2019-11-07T18:28:22","slug":"sergio-pettis-explains-decision-to-leave-the-ufc-for-bellator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/bellator\/sergio-pettis-explains-decision-to-leave-the-ufc-for-bellator\/","title":{"rendered":"Sergio Pettis explains decision to leave the UFC for Bellator"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a recent interview with MMA Junkie<\/a>, Sergio Pettis up about the daunting experience of becoming a free agent and how it lead him to sign a new contract at Bellator<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The flyweight took a leap of faith by leaving the UFC after fulfilling his contract to become a free agent. Shortly thereafter, he revealed that he had signed with Bellator in a decision that took him from panic to excitement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI put myself out there, and Bellator put out a great opportunity,” he said. “This will be the next step for me. (But) the UFC will always be my home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll always have love for the UFC. I loved growing up there, but sometimes when you grow up you\u2019ve got to leave home and live other places. I feel like the Bellator division is deep. I\u2019m a scuba diver out here exploring new waters. I\u2019m going for gold.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pettis made his UFC debut in 2013 and tallied 9 wins over fighters including Joseph Benavidez. His brother, Anthony Pettis, is still signed to the UFC and last fought “BMF” contender Nate Diaz at UFC 241. The Pettis brothers have close ties to the organization but the young feels he has made the right move for his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an offer I didn\u2019t want to refuse, and the vibe just felt right,\u201d Pettis said. \u201cThis was the right decision to make looking back now. For a little bit, I was scared to leave the UFC because I grew up there.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like, \u2018Damn, man. I feel like I\u2019m leaving home.\u2019 I had to do this for me and my future. I\u2019m excited. I\u2019m excited to go out there and put on the performance that I\u2019m capable of doing. Nothing changes, just the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of the decision to walk away from the UFC was the uncertainty of the future of the 125-pound men’s flyweight division. Now Pettis can sink his teeth into a new division with fresh talent. As a member of the Bellator 135-pound roster, Pettis plans on working towards a championship fight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe uncertainty was what scared me,\u201d Pettis said. \u201cI was high up in that division. All of a sudden, it just completely disintegrated. I\u2019m like, \u2018Dang, I don\u2019t want to deal with that again.\u2019 That really put me in a dark place. This is the right opportunity and was the right decision to make.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m gonna fight them all. Whoever\u2019s talking. Who wants to fight me? I\u2019m here to fight them. Whatever names they put in front of me. I don\u2019t refuse fights. I\u2019m not scared of anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sergio Pettis’ official Bellator debut hasn’t been announced yet, but stay tuned for updates.<\/p>\n

This article first appeared on\u00a0<\/i>BJPENN.COM<\/i><\/span><\/a>\u00a0on 11\/7\/2019.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Sergio Pettis up about the daunting experience of becoming a free agent and how it lead him to sign a new contract at Bellator. The flyweight took a leap of faith by leaving the UFC after fulfilling his contract to become a free agent. Shortly thereafter, he revealed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54472,"featured_media":292161,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[44,10529,39610],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nSergio Pettis explains decision to leave the UFC for Bellator | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sergio Pettis talks about his decision to sign with Bellator and what he thinks about the UFC after leaving the company earlier this year.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/bellator\/sergio-pettis-explains-decision-to-leave-the-ufc-for-bellator\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sergio Pettis explains 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