Sergio Pettis faces Lewis McGrillen-Evans in PFL Austin co-main event on July 18

Sergio Pettis will look to rebound from his first defeat in over two years when he faces Lewis McGrillen-Evans in the co-main event of PFL Austin on July 18 at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas. The matchup was announced during the PFL Brussels broadcast on Saturday.

Pettis, a former Bellator MMA bantamweight champion, had his two-bout winning streak ended at PFL Chicago on April 11, where undefeated newcomer Mitchell McKee handed him a unanimous decision loss. Before that setback, “The Phenom” had posted back-to-back victories over Magomed Magomedov and Raufeon Stotts.

His Bellator tenure remains one of the more decorated runs in the promotion’s bantamweight history. Pettis claimed the title with a win over Juan Archuleta and successfully defended it against both Kyoji Horiguchi and Patricio Freire before dropping the belt to Patrick Mix at Bellator 301 in November 2023.

McGrillen-Evans arrives in strong form, having won six of his seven PFL appearances. His current four-fight winning streak includes the 2024 PFL Europe bantamweight championship and a second-round submission of Alan Philpott in his most recent outing in May 2025, making him a credible threat to a name-brand opponent still finding his footing in the promotion.

The main event of PFL Austin is a middleweight title rematch between Costello van Steenis and Johnny Eblen.