Bellator 272 predictions: Who's picking underdog Sergio Pettis to defend his title?

Bellator returns to Connecticut this week with the flyweight title on the line.

Bellator 272 takes place Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.

(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)

In the main event, flyweight champion Sergio Pettis (21-5 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) puts his title up for the first time when he meets former champ Kyoji Horiguchi (29-3 MMA, 1-0 BMMA). Horiguchi is a -180 favorite at Tipico; the comeback on Pettis is +140. Only two of our 13 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers are picking Pettis to defend his belt.

In the co-feature, Jeremy Kennedy (16-3 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) takes on former featherweight title challenger Emmanuel Sanchez (20-6 MMA, 12-5 BMMA). Sanchez is a -210 favorite and has a 9-4 lead in our picks.

Also on the main card, Josh Hill (20-4 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) meets Jared Scoggins (10-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) in a bantamweight bout that is a virtual pick’em at the betting window. But our staff members have it a little more decisive at 9-4 for Hill.

And to open the main card, Johnny Eblen (9-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) is a massive 11-1 favorite against Collin Huckbody (10-3 MMA, 0-0 BMMA). Not surprisingly, he’s a unanimous pick from our pickers.

In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Horiguchi (68 percent), Sanchez (81 percent), Scoggins (56 percent) and Eblen (86 percent) are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.