After the dominating the first round of his flyweight return Saturday, Sergio Pettis was all but declared the next contender to Demetrious Johnson’s title by commentators from Twitter to the broadcast booth.
But then Ryan Benoit had something to say about it.
Benoit stopped Pettis in his tracks at UFC 185, rocking his opponent with a monster left to the jaw and following up with a vicious ground-and-pound flurry. The Dallas-based fighter won TKO at 1:34 of the second round in front of his hometown fans.
After the fight was waved off, though, Benoit turned much of the crowd against him by giving Pettis a literal kick in the ass. Benoit apologized profusely afterwards.
“I gotta say I’m sorry real quick,” said Benoit (8-3). “I haven’t fought in 16 months, the only thing I can say is I got really into the fight, really hyped, and I know I was way behind in the fight.”
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Pettis (12-2), the younger brother of lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, went 3-1 in the UFC at bantamweight before making the drop back down to 125. Pettis put on a ferocious display over the opening round, dominating the standup with swift strikes and showing smooth work on the ground.
It appeared to be more of the same in round two before the duo fired off left hands and Benoit’s landed a split second sooner, changing the fight’s trajectory in a heartbeat.
“I just knocked out Sergio Pettis in my hometown,” said Benoit. “I know it was wrong. I got zoned in, I had my tunnel vision on, all I can say is I’m sorry.”