Sergio Pettis returned to the Octagon in style when he bested John Moraga at last Sunday night’s (Jan. 15) UFC Fight Night event. Pettis was in hostile territory as he was competing in Moraga’s hometown of Phoenix, Arizona. Nonetheless, Pettis walked out of the Talking Stick Arena with a unanimous decision win.
The official YouTube channel of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), uploaded Megan Olivi’s post-fight interview with “The Phenom.” Pettis said he felt in prime condition when he shared the Octagon with his opponent:
“I didn’t feel any ring rust or anything. I was more excited to be out there, blessed that my body was able to come out here and perform. This is something I love doing, this is my passion. I’m a martial artist and out there is my canvas and I feel like I was performing hard and expressing myself.”
While the decision was clearly in Pettis’ favor, Moraga had his moments where he landed a few clean strikes. The rising flyweight admitted he had his bell rung for some of those punches.
“I mean he did hit me with some hits that kind of were like, ‘oh I should probably put my hands up,’ but he hit me with some good shots. [He] definitely had me a little shaken from some of em. He has some hard power and at 32 years old, he’s throwing some bombs out there.”
After the fight, Pettis called out Jussier Formiga to a bout for UFC 209 on March 4. Pettis said he doesn’t want to waste time before throwing some more leather.
“I just wanna get back in there right away. I feel like my body is okay besides the calf. But I feel like my body’s okay and I wanna take advantage of my youth. I’m only 23 years old. [I] really don’t have much injuries. I had suffered one LCL injury and after having such a long layoff, I realized I gotta really take care of my body.”
