Sergio Pettis considering return to flyweight after UFC 181 bantamweight win

Sergio Pettis has been at 125 pounds before, and he may be heading back there his next time out.

Pettis (12-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) took a unanimous decision from Matt Hobar (9-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) on the preliminary card of Saturday’s UFC 181 pay-per-view in Las Vegas. The win moved him to 3-1 in the UFC, all as a bantamweight.

But after the victory, Pettis said he is likely to make the move to flyweight, where he was until 18 months ago.

“It was a good performance, but I think I might go down to 125 after this,” Pettis said. “These guys are a lot bigger than me (at bantamweight). I’ve been thinking about it for about a year, and I’m going to do a practice cut to see how it goes.”

Pettis beat Hobar with a pair of 29-28 scores, plus a 30-27. But the gritty Hobar was able to find himself on top of Pettis a couple times in the fight, owing at least partially to an apparent size and strength advantage come fight night.

Pettis, the younger brother of UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, who defended his title in the UFC 181 co-main event at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, even has a title at flyweight. He won RFA’s inaugural flyweight belt with a 51-second TKO of Dillard Pegg in June 2013.

But then he moved up to bantamweight, where he had fought once previously, and won a regional title at 135 pounds in his native Milwaukee. The move perhaps came with the knowledge he soon would be in the UFC, and soon after, he was.

Pettis won his UFC debut with a unanimous decision over Will Campuzano at UFC 167 a little more than a year ago. But against Alex Caceres, a former lightweight and featherweight, he was submitted in the third round in January – though he got $50,000 as “Fight of the Night” for his efforts.

In June, he took a decision from Yaotzin Meza, who also has spent some time at featherweight. But the win over Hobar sounds like it could be his last at bantamweight for a while.

“I want everyone in (the flyweight) division,” Pettis said. “Whoever the UFC puts in front of me, I’m ready for.”

From a title pursuit standpoint, it may be a wise move. Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson is the one UFC titleholder considered to have few options for challengers apart from fighters he’s already beaten. The path to a title shot at flyweight is as potentially quick as any in the UFC.

For more on UFC 181, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.