The new Bellator lightweight champion would not turn down a super fight against AJ McKee.
Only a couple of days after winning the Bellator lightweight belt, Patricky Freire already looks forward to his first title defense, and would not discard a super fight. Following his TKO victory over Peter Queally at Bellator 270, ‘Pitbull’ now looks at featherweight champ AJ McKee, the man who last defeated Freire’s brother Patricio.
In an interview with Super Lutas, Freire explained that beating McKee would be like returning the favor to his brother, who knocked out Michael Chandler to avenge his previous losses. Nonetheless, even if the champion cannot have AJ in his first defense, he promises to put away anyone who faces him next.
“What I want to do now is defend the belt, make history in this division. I want to keep knocking them out, beating my opponents like I do. A champion who knocks people out is a much better look than anything else. I want to keep knocking them out.”
“(If I could choose who’s next, it’s) AJ McKee. So I could return the favor my brother did to me when he beat Chandler.” Freire continued. “He had some weight issues against my brother. He’s been struggling with that for a while now. I’m sure he’s suffering a lot. If they want to put me against him, I’m ready to beat him up. I can already picture the staredown.”
Patricky (24-10) won the vacant lightweight belt in his rematch against Queally at Bellator 270. Before that, the 35-year-old had lost to the Irishman via TKO due to doctor stoppage, back in May. The loss had put Pitbull on a two-fight losing skid as he had already suffered a unanimous decision loss to Tofiq Musayev, in December 2019.