Pettis: "I stayed calm and proved that I’m better than this man”

In a clash of 23-year-old flyweight contenders, Sergio Pettis survived an early scare against Brandon Moreno to pound out a five-round unanimous decision victory in the UFC Fight Night main event at Arena Ciudad de Mexico on Saturday night.

“I definitely had to face some adversity. He came out there and put me in a very dangerous situation, I stayed calm and I had four more rounds to prove that I’m better than this man and I did it,” Pettis said.

Scores were 49-46 and 48-46 twice for the No. 6-ranked Pettis, now 16-2. The No. 7-ranked Moreno falls to 14-4.

After throwing a few kicks to open the fight, Moreno caught one of Pettis’ and put him on the mat. Pettis was calm on the mat, but in a scramble, Moreno was able to take his back with a little over three minutes remaining. Pettis’ defense was rock solid, but he wasn’t able to escape before the end of the round, and he went back to the corner with a cut as well.

Pettis landed two hard head kicks early in round two, but Moreno used the second one to take the Milwaukee native back to the mat. This time, Pettis was able to briefly try a triangle choke before scrambling to his feet, and his disciplined striking attack allowed him to control the majority of the frame.

In the third, Pettis began to take over in a big way, with his technical striking allowing him to tag Moreno repeatedly with hard punches and kicks while also cutting his foe over the right eye.

The fourth was more of the same, and while Moreno kept charging forward, his aggression was far from effective.

Moreno got a takedown to kick off the fifth and final round, and he kept Pettis locked up until 90 seconds remained in the fight. There was still enough time for another surge from the “Assassin Baby,” but it was Pettis who controlled the standup down the stretch and secured his victory.

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The fastest undercard in UFC history was in Mexico City

HERMANSSON vs SCOTT

European middleweights clashed in the Octagon at Arena Ciudad de Mexico in Mexico City Saturday night, with Norway’s Jack Hermansson scoring a first-round stoppage of England’s Brad Scott that earned “The Joker” his second consecutive knockout win.

Looking to implement his ground game, Hermansson got his wish with a takedown in the second minute, and from there, Scott had no answers, as he was flattened out and then subjected to a series of unanswered ground strikes that left referee Bladimir Puga no choice but to stop the fight at the 3:50 mark of round one.

ORTIZ vs SANDOVAL

No. 12-ranked flyweight contender Dustin Ortiz scored the fastest finish in UFC flyweight history, stopping Hector Sandoval in 15 seconds.

Sandoval was looking to brawl as the bout began, and while he caught Ortiz with a couple hard shots, the equalizer was Ortiz’ right hand, which put Sandoval to a knee. Another right followed and the Uruapan native hit the deck face first. Three more hammerfists followed and referee Jerin Valel called a stop to the fight.

Franklin, Tennessee’s Ortiz moves to 17-7 with the win; Sandoval falls to 14-4.

YAHYA vs BRIONES

Bantamweight submission wizard Rani Yahya showed off his ground game once again when he faced Henry Briones, forcing the Mexico native to tap out in the first round.

Yahya got it to the mat in the opening mat and quickly went hunting for submissions, first a choke, then a kimura, and it was the kimura that hit paydirt, with Briones tapping out at the 2:01 mark.

Brasilia’s Yahya moves to 24-9 with 1 NC; Tijuana’s Briones falls to 19-7-1.

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QUINONEZ vs RIVAS

In a meeting of former TUF Latin America cast mates, Jose Quinonez shut out Diego Rivas over three rounds.

All three judges saw the bantamweight bout 30-27.

Quinonez (7-2) was in control from the start and he never yielded that control to Chile’s Rivas (7-1), who was fighting for the first time since a 2016 bout with cancer.

Primarily using a slick stick and move attack, Zacatecas’ Quinonez did show off some impressive ground-and-pound work in the second, and in the third, his ground defense was sharp as he held off Rivas’ last attempts at turning the fight around.

MORALES vs SANCHEZ

Highly touted Team Alpha Male product Joseph Morales lived up to the hype in his UFC debut submitting fellow debutant Roberto Sanchez in a clash of unbeaten flyweight prospects.

Sanchez got a takedown 30 seconds into the fight and was able to control the action there until the midway point of the round, when Morales rose and then knocked Sanchez down with a left-right. Morales chased after the knockout, but he ended up winning the fight on the ground, as he sunk in a rear naked choke that forced Sanchez to tap out at 3:56 of round one.

Sacramento’s Morales improves to 9-0; Houston’s Sanchez falls to 7-1.

RINALDI vs HERRERA

Lightweight veteran Jordan Rinaldi picked up his first UFC win in the opener, quickly submitting Alvaro Herrera.

Rinaldi nearly got caught himself as he went to the mat after getting briefly rocked. But after the Charlotte product escaped a choke by Herrera, he sunk in his own Von Flue choke that produced a tap out at 2:01 of the opening frame.

Rinaldi moves to 13-5 with the win, Guadalajara’s Herrera falls to 9-5

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