P. Freire talks about the Bellator belt. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram
Nowadays, fighters don't just want to be champions of their respective weight classes, they want to be champions of two categories. However, the fight schedule ends up being affected and the one who is suffering from this is Patrício Freire, number one featherweight (65,8kg) and lightweight (70,3kg) in Bellator. To the North American website MMA Fighting, 'Pitbull' informed that he will only give up the lightweight belt if his brother, Patricky, one of the top fighters in the category, reaches the position of challenger.
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“I will only release the lightweight belt if my brother is chosen. There is no other possibility of this happening. If there is any other challenger, I will fight”, said the Brazilian.
And there is no shortage of good options. According to the fighter, in addition to Patricky, Brent Primus and Myles Jury are also notable competitors.
One of the most decorated athletes in Bellator's history, Patrício also revealed that he asked the company to fight for the bantamweight belt (61,2kg), as he wants to make history in MMA by becoming a triple champion.
“To take the belt away from me, it will have to be by force. I asked to be the bantamweight challenger, but Bellator wants me to finish the featherweight tournament. Winning the featherweight and lightweight belts was very difficult, so I wasn't going to release it. I only do this against my brother and so the category doesn’t stand still.”
'Pitbull' was scheduled to defend the featherweight belt against Pedro Carvalho in March, but the fight was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Bellator's plan is to hold the fight in October, in Europe. The Brazilian became lightweight champion in May 2019, by knocking out Michael chandler, in the first round. Since then, he has had just one fight and advanced in the featherweight Grand Prix by defeating Juan Archuleta in September last year.
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