Sergio Pettis: Facing Ex-Teammate 'Hardest Thing I Ever Had to Do in My Career'

After not competing for over a year inside an MMA cage, Sergio Pettis made his Professional Fighters League SmartCage debut last weekend in Chicago against friend and former teammate Raufeon Stots.

Pettis won a unanimous decision at PFL World Tournament 7 in a matchup of former Bellator MMA champions in a close, technical fight. It’s something Pettis said he never wants to do again in his MMA career.

“It was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my career,” Pettis said following the June 27 event in Chicago. “Wrapping my head around this whole fight camp in general, I was like ‘Wow, I’m literally going to fight a good friend of mine.’ I love Raufeon, I love his family, he was my teammate for a long time. That is something I hope I never have to do again in my life.”

Fighters only get one shot! Watch the PFL World Tournament Finals LIVE Friday, Aug. 1 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN+

With the fight being as close as it was, even Pettis was skeptical of how the judges were going to score it. Pettis noticed that Stots started to become more aggressive late in the third round, and he knew the mood in the fight had changed.

“Looking back at it, I don’t know how I felt in there. It could’ve been a draw, it could’ve gone his way. I don’t know. I have to go watch it again,” Pettis said. “I landed some good stuff. He was really just holding me down and sat me out, so I’m not sure how the judges saw it, but they saw it for me. Personally, I’m not the happiest with my performance but it was my first time in the cage in two years.”

Pettis Eyes Future PFL Title Shot

Now that he has made his PFL debut and is once again active, Pettis says his goal is simple: He wants a bantamweight title shot.

“I’d like to get a title shot, I’m here for that belt, I’m here for a reason,” he said. “I am not here just to fight lower-level guys, I want to fight the best in the division. I would love a title shot. My goal is to become a two-promotion champion. My brother [Anthony Pettis] did it with having the UFC and WEC belts, and I’d like to do it by having the Bellator and PFL belts. We’d be the first two brothers to have all the belts that are in the biggest promotions.”

Marcirley Alves and Justin Wetzell will square off in the finals of the PFL bantamweight tournament final on Aug. 15. If Pettis gets his wish, perhaps he will get a crack at the winner of that bout.

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— PFL (@PFLMMA) June 28, 2025