Sergio Pettis to Defend Bantamweight Crown vs. Kyoji Horiguchi at Bellator Event on Dec. 3

Sergio Pettis is scheduled to make his first bantamweight title defense when he faces Kyoji Horiguchi at a Bellator MMA event on Dec. 3.

The pairing was first announced by the promotion on the Morning Kombat show. The card takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., and airs on Showtime.

Pettis claimed 135-pound gold with a five-round verdict against Juan Archuleta at Bellator 258 on May 7. The Roufusport export is currently on a four-bout winning streak that includes wins over Ricky Bandejas and Alfred Khashakyan in the California-based promotion. Before signing with Bellator, Pettis went 9-5 in the UFC while competing at both bantamweight and flyweight.

Horiguchi was briefly a dual-promotional champion in both Rizin and Bellator but was forced to relinquish his belts after suffering a knee injury. In his return to action, the American Top Team member captured the Rizin throne again with a first-round knockout of Kai Asakura this past December. Horiguchi is 10-1 since leaving the UFC, with his only loss coming to Asakura in a non-title bout in August 2019.