Bellator video: Pettis outpoints Bandejas, Pico earns first sub

Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images

Check out the results and highlights from Bellator 242, where Sergio Pettis took a unanimous nod over Ricky Bandejas, and Jason Jackson spoiled the promotional debut for Jordan Mein. 

The Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut was the setting for Bellator 242, as the promotion had its first show since the global pandemic hit. The night was capped off in the bantamweight division with Roufusport’s Sergio Pettis earning three 30-27 scores against American Top Team’s Ricky Bandejas. It was the pressure striking of Pettis that kept Bandejas moving backwards and unable to mount much offense coming forward. Sergio looked a lot like the Sergio we are all used to seeing, doing enough to get the win, but not severely hurting his opponent at any point. Nonetheless, this makes two up and two down for Pettis under the Bellator umbrella, extending his overall winning streak to three.

In the co-main event, the Henry Hooft trained Jason Jackson ran away with the scorecards against UFC veteran, and Bellator newcomer, Jordan Mein. Jackson was on fire with his counter strikes throughout, but more impressively he managed to stuff or reverse all of the takedown attempts from Mein. This might be Jackson’s best showing to date as the featherweight is now on a two-fight winning streak.

Also on the Bellator 242 main card, the 22-year-old Jay Jay Wilson took a gritty split decision over former Bellator Featherweight Grand Prix competitor, Ty-wan Claxton. Wilson was forced to fight off a grinding attack from Claxton for a large chunk of the match, but he was able to throw up a couple of submission attempts. Both sides received a 30-27, with Wilson earning a 29-28 score from the third judge. It should be noted that Wilson missed weight for this bout by 1.9 pounds.

Opening up the main card, the abundantly talented Aaron Pico earned himself a quick first-round submission of Solo Hatley Jr. Pico went for the takedown right away, and dominated from the top. It wasn’t very long before he sniffed out the finish. After a couple of hiccups, the warranted hype-train for Pico rolls on to 6-3 with his second consecutive win. Perhaps his move to Jackson-Wink will help develop him into the fighter that everyone, fair or unfairly, hopes he would be.

**See complete results below

Main card:

Sergio Pettis def. Ricky Bandejas by unanimous decision (30-27 x3): Bantamweight

Pettis calmly backed up Bandejas, throwing calculated strikes without opening up too much. Bandejas spent a lot of time reacting to what Pettis was doing, so he wasn’t racking up a ton of volume. With about one minute left in the round, Bandejas closed the distance and hit a takedown. He didn’t really do anything with it before Pettis scrambled up and kicked Ricky in the face.

Sergio brought the same sort of tempo in the second act. He patiently walked down Bandejas behind his combos. Pettis attacked the calf of his foe, promoting Bandejas to shoot in. Bandejas botched the takedown attempt, giving Pettis a little bit of top control time before the fight returned to its feet. The final round saw Pettis stick with his pressuring style. He was landing a lot more cleanly with his punches than he was in the first-two rounds, and continued to pepper the calf with kicks. Bandejas had a brief surge of offense in the final moments of the round, but not enough to win it.

Jason Jackson def. Jordan Mein by unanimous decision (30-27 x3): Welterweight

Mein pressed the action right away. He marched down Jackson behind strikes, looking to close the distance. Jackson remained composed and was able to deliver a quite a few clean counter punches. Mein struggled to close the distance without eating something hard coming back his way.

Jackson pelted Mein with a heavy leg kick that stopped the forward pressure.Mein tried to get the fight to the floor, but the takedown defense of Jackson was on point. Mein became a stationary target and Jackson was firing at will. The young veteran did rebound and started to swing back, but ended up giving up a takedown towards the end of the round. Jackson continued to look good in the final round. His strikes continued to land and he even briefly dropped Mein at one point. Mein grabbed ahold of a body lock, but Jackson reversed the takedown attempt to land on top inside of the guard. Mein did not return to his feet.

Jay Jay Wilson def. Ty-wan Claxton by split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29): Featherweight

Wilson went right after Claxton, bull-rushing and sprinting to clinch up. Claxton fought off the early aggression and shoved Wilson up against the cage. An uppercut from Claxton knocked out the mouthpiece of Wilson, causing a brief pause in the action. Upon the restart, Wilson reversed the position and earned himself a takedown. He took the back and controlled for a bit before Claxton scrambled on top before the bell.

The second round saw a bit of a slower start from Wilson. The fighters went technique for technique, with neither man really able to establish dominance. The volume was slightly on the side of Wilson with the power shots being landed by Claxton. The fight stalled out a bit against the fence, with Claxton controlling his opposition and scoring with chipping strikes.

Claxton pressed forward int he final round, backing up Wilson to fence. That’s where he continued to control much in the same way he did in the previous round. Wilson struggled to get his back off of the cage, so he was unable to mount much of any offense of his own. Then, he jumped for a flying triangle, and was able to put Claxton in jeopardy for the final 30-seconds of the round.

Aaron Pico def. Solo Hatley Jr. by submission (RNC) at 2:10 of round 1: Featherweight

Pico was quick to close the distance and earn himself a takedown. The top prospect worked from the top, dropping strikes and keeping Hatley Jr. pinned to the floor. Hatley Jr. ended up exposing his back, and Pico made the most of the moment by grabbing ahold of a rear-naked choke.

Prelims:

• Mark Lemminger def. Jake Smith by TKO at 4:46 of round 2: Welterweight

• Raufeon Stots def. Cass Bell by submission (RNC) at 1:24 of round 3: Bantamweight

• Ras Hylton def. Rudy Schaffroth by unanimous decision: Heavyweight