Bellator made its return from a 153-day hiatus brought on by the coronavirus pandemic on Friday with Bellator 242, which took place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., with a main card that aired on Paramount and streamed on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.
A title eliminator in the bantamweight division served as the main event of the card as former longtime UFC contender [autotag]Sergio Pettis[/autotag] (20-5 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) remained undefeated in his Bellator career when he outworked [autotag]Ricky Bandejas[/autotag] (13-4 MMA, 3-3 BMMA) to a unanimous decision.
Pettis’ performance closed out a seven-fight card that included a few notable feats. For more on the numbers, check below for 17 post-event facts to come out of Bellator 242.
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General
Betting favorites went 3-1 on the main card.
Betting favorites improved to 4-0 in Bellator main events this year.
Total fight time for the four-bout main card was 47:10.
Main card
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Pettis’ two-fight Bellator winning streak at bantamweight is the longest active streak in the division.
Pettis has earned 13 of his 20 career victories by decision. That includes 10 of his past 11 wins.
Bandejas has suffered two of his three Bellator losses by decision.
[autotag]Jason Jackson[/autotag] (12-4 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) has earned two of his three Bellator victories by decision.
[autotag]Jordan Mein[/autotag] (31-13 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) was unsuccessful in his Bellator debut following a nine-fight UFC stint.
Mein fell to 2-3 since he returned from retirement in December 2016.
[autotag]Tywan Claxton[/autotag] (6-2 MMA, 6-2 BMMA) suffered the first decision loss of his career.
[autotag]Aaron Pico[/autotag] (6-3 MMA, 6-3 BMMA) improved to 6-2 since he dropped to the featherweight division in September 2017.
Pico earned the first submission victory of his career.
Pico’s six stoppage victories in Bellator featherweight competition are third most in divisional history behind A.J. McKee (11) and Patricio Freire (10).
Preliminary card
[autotag]Jake Smith[/autotag] (7-4 MMA, 1-2 BMMA) suffered the first knockout loss of his career.
[autotag]Cass Bell[/autotag] (5-1 MMA, 5-1 BMMA) had his five-fight winning streak snapped for the first defeat of his career.
[autotag]Rudy Schaffroth[/autotag] (6-2 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) has suffered consecutive losses after starting his career 6-0.
Schaffroth suffered the first decision loss of his career.