It may not have been the showcase 20-year old Sergio Pettis was looking for, but he did enough to get the job done against Yaotzin Meza at UFC Fight Night 42 in Albuquerque. He won a unanimous decision (official scores were 29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis’s younger brother was patient in his attack — perhaps a little caution as well — as he worked for three rounds on his feet in scoring a unanimous decision. Content to use movement, circle and snap one-off strikes, the Roufusport fighter Pettis improved to 2-1 in the UFC’s bantamweight division.
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The fight picked up steam late in the second round when Meza came in for a single-leg takedown attempt, and Pettis clocked him with a left. For a brief moment he turned up the volume on the 33-year old Meza, but wasn’t able to get the finish. Pettis also landed a high kick flush to Meza’s jaw in the round, but Meza was able to shake it off.
With about a minute left in the third round, Meza was finally able to score a takedown and show some urgency, but it was too little too late for the Arizona-based Lab fighter.
With the victory, Pettis improves to 11-1 in his young MMA career. Meza, who was coming off of a “no contest” against Pettis’ one-time training partner Chico Camus in January, falls to 20-9-1.