"A whole different pressure" - Sergio Pettis recounts fighting Kyoji Horiguchi at Bellator 272 ahead of rematch at RIZIN 47

Sergio Pettis recently recounted his experience fighting Kyoji Horiguchi at Bellator 272 in 2021 and noted what his emotions were like ahead of the bout. He noted that the 33-year-old was a very difficult opponent to deal with, which made his win so satisfying.

The 30-year-old was the Bellator bantamweight champion during their first encounter, while 'The Typhoon' was looking to regain the title he was forced to relinquish due to injury. It appeared as though Horiguchi had been in control and winning the fight ahead of the fourth round, however, Pettis dropped him with a spectacular spinning backfist out of nowhere to earn a knockout win and retain his title.

While speaking to The Game Plan, 'The Phenom' described the difficulty in fighting the former Bellator bantamweight champion. Pettis mentioned that he was dealing with the pressure of being the defending champion and that Horiguchi was sharp with his movements and striking, which made him difficult to hit throughout the fight. He said:

"It's a whole different pressure [being champion], so I went into that fight looking a lot [more] tense, uncomfortable and not only that, Horiguchi's a gamer, he's a veteran. So, he was looking nice...entries...speed was frustrating, so the three-and-a-half rounds, man, I was definitely frustrated. I was getting very annoyed...I couldn't hit him."

Check out Sergio Pettis' comments below:

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Sergio Pettis believes Kyoji Horiguchi has more pressure on him in their rematch

It appears as though Sergio Pettis believes that the tables will be turned in the rematch as he noted that Kyoji Horiguchi will have more pressure when they compete in the main event of RIZIN 47.

During the aforementioned interview, Pettis mentioned that Horiguchi is the reigning RIZIN flyweight champion and will be competing in his home nation under a ruleset that he is much more familiar with than his opponent. He said:

"This time around, I think things will be a little bit different. There's less pressure on me and to be honest, there's more pressure on him. He's got to go out there and perform for his [Japanese] people...and try to get that rematch, try and get that W back. And this time, I think that I'll be able to fight more freely."

Check out the bout order for RIZIN 47 headlined by Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Sergio Pettis 2 below:

RIZIN 47 bout order [Image courtesy: @RIZINTV_ - X]