Sergio Pettis has less than two years to become a millionaire, but one tournament could help achieve his goal.
Reigning Bellator bantamweight champion Pettis (22-5 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) will enter an eight-man grand prix in 2022 where the winner walks away with the belt and $1 million.
Pettis is coming off a spectacular comeback knockout of Kyoji Horiguchi for his first title defense at Bellator 272 in December and will have seven men – including Horiguchi – gunning for his belt in the grand prix.
“2022 is a brand new year that I’ve got to be focused for,” Pettis told MMA Junkie. “There’s a million dollars at the end of this. There’s defending the belt, which I want to continue to do. I’m not here to have this belt for a season, I’m here to have it for a reason. I want to show that I’m one of the best in this division and I’m one of the best in the world. It’s just a matter of time before I believe in it and before my performances are showing it. It’s my time. My time is coming right now. Everything is shifting, and the way I’m working and the way I’m thinking is just coming altogether.”
Alongside Horiguchi in the Bellator bantamweight grand prix will be Pettis’ teammate Raufeon Stots, former champ Juan Archuleta, James Gallagher, Leandro Higo, Magomed Magomedov and Patchy Mix.
Pettis, MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Year and winner, is unconcerned with who he draws first and is solely focused on retaining his belt and banking the $1 million prize.
“I’m just happy going through a grand prix,” Pettis said. “I’ve never had that in my career at all, so at 28 years old, about to go through a grand prix, have a shot at $1 million, whatever way it goes, it goes. I’m not in control of that. Whatever the universe throws at me, I’m ready to take that on, so if I’ve got to fight a teammate or a fighter that I just fought, I’ll do whatever necessary to get to my goal. I have that written down in my goals to become a millionaire before I’m 30 years old, so I think that’ll definitely be an option in 2022.”
To see the full interview with Pettis, check out the video below.