Tag: Patricio Pitbull Freire

Cris Cyborg to Make Bellator Return at Bellator 271 vs. Sinead Kavanagh

Cris CyborgCris Cyborg will seek her third-straight successful Bellator title defense next month at Bellator 271 against top contender Sinead Kavanagh. Bellator president Scott Coker announced the fight during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. The event is scheduled for Nov. 12 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, […]

Cris Cyborg

Cris Cyborg will seek her third-straight successful Bellator title defense next month at Bellator 271 against top contender Sinead Kavanagh.

Bellator president Scott Coker announced the fight during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. The event is scheduled for Nov. 12 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, FL.

This will be Cyborg’s fourth fight in Bellator since moving on from the UFC in 2019. She is widely regarded as one of the best female MMA fighters of all time and has looked dominant since moving over to Bellator.

Cyborg is also the former UFC featherweight champion but lost her belt to Amanda Nunes at UFC 232. After that, she was expected to face Nunes in an immediate rematch, but negotiations never materialized and she went on to fight Felicia Spencer instead at UFC 240.

Cyborg will face SBG Ireland’s Kavanagh, who is coming off of back-to-back victories over Katharina Lehner and Olga Rubin. Cyborg most recently defeated Leslie Smith in a rematch at Bellator 259.

Aside from Cyborg vs. Kavanagh, no other fights have been formally announced by Bellator for the upcoming Bellator 271 event, but that could change in the coming weeks.

Cyborg is also the one and only ‘Grand Slam Champion’ with title reigns in four different organizations. She holds 20 wins against top fighters such as Holly Holm, Gina Carano, and Julia Budd.

The fight announcement comes just days after women’s featherweight contender Leah McCourt earned an impressive win over Jessica Borga at Bellator 267. She is more than likely next in line for the belt, but couldn’t make the quick turnaround against Cyborg.

Cyborg will have the chance to defend her belt once again and solidify herself further as one of the most dominant fighters in MMA history, regardless of gender.

What are your thoughts on Cris Cyborg’s next fight against Sinead Kavanagh?

Bellator 263: Pitbull vs. McKee Weigh-In Results & Preview

We’re all set for the finals of Bellator’s featherweight grand prix after Bellator 263 title combatants Patricio Pitbull and A.J. McKee successfully made weight on Friday. In what will go down as one of the biggest fights in Bellator histor…

We’re all set for the finals of Bellator’s featherweight grand prix after Bellator 263 title combatants Patricio Pitbull and A.J. McKee successfully made weight on Friday. In what will go down as one of the biggest fights in Bellator history tomorrow night, Patricio Pitbull will put his featherweight title on the line when he takes […]

Continue Reading Bellator 263: Pitbull vs. McKee Weigh-In Results & Preview at MMA News.

Patricio Pitbull and A.J. McKee Nearly Brawl at Bellator 263 Presser

Patricio Pitbull A.J. McKeeIt went from a war of words to all-out chaos as Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire and A.J. McKee came face-to-face at their Bellator 263 pre-fight press conference in Los Angeles. We are just two days away from the highly-anticipated conclusion to the Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix as Freire defends his belt against the top contender, […]

Patricio Pitbull A.J. McKee

It went from a war of words to all-out chaos as Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire and A.J. McKee came face-to-face at their Bellator 263 pre-fight press conference in Los Angeles.

We are just two days away from the highly-anticipated conclusion to the Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix as Freire defends his belt against the top contender, McKee in the finals. Both fighters worked through some of the toughest featherweight fighters in the promotion on the way to the championship bout.

Following Freire’s last win over Emmanuel Sanchez in the semifinals, he faced off with a suited-up McKee in the center of the octagon after McKee had been part of the broadcast team for his fight. It was an intense, albeit respectful faceoff, but it appears all love is lost between the two top featherweights.

Freire and McKee engaged in some intense trash-talk at their pre-fight press conference between things turned from tense to violent. The trash talk turned to each side’s families which forced Freire and McKee to stand up from their seats and nearly fought in the middle of the stage before security and Bellator headman Scott Coker separated the two.

A.J. and his father, former UFC fighter Antonio McKee, nearly threw punches at Freire and his manager before they were pushed away. McKee went as far as attempting to steal Freire’s belt from the table in front of him before it was knocked to the ground below.

The winner of the featherweight grand prix not only will win a belt but a $1,000,000 grand prize. It was by far the most anticipated Bellator main event in years and easily the biggest featherweight title fight in the promotion’s history.

The earlier respect between Freire and McKee has quickly turned around into a dark atmosphere, which will only add to the interest of MMA fans in the Saturday bout.

What is your prediction for Patricio Pitbull vs. A.J. McKee?

Patricio Freire Fires Back At Dana White For Bellator Comments

Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire didn’t appreciate Dana White’s comments about Bellator this past Saturday. During the UFC on ESPN 15 post-fight press conference, White was asked if he’d ever consider cross promoting fights with another promotion, such as Bellator. White responded with the following statement: “Guys, everybody they have in their light-heavyweight division, we let go […]

Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire didn’t appreciate Dana White’s comments about Bellator this past Saturday. During the UFC on ESPN 15 post-fight press conference, White was asked if he’d ever consider cross promoting fights with another promotion, such as Bellator. White responded with the following statement:

“Guys, everybody they have in their light-heavyweight division, we let go of. He’s got the best light-heavyweight division? We let those guys all go. It’s like the fucking dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. But I get it, he’s gotta try to fucking do his thing, you know what I mean? I’m not shitting on him, he’s gotta try to do his thing.

“He’s gotta try to sell fights and the way you don’t sell fights is like, ‘oh I got the best light-heavyweight division in the world.’ I mean that’s, everybody that was there was let go from here. It’s a pretty silly statement.”

The reporter went on to say that Juan Archuleta is a good name, after previously mentioning Bader, but to no avail. Dana White does not want to do cross promotion events.

White has always been dismissive about fighters in other promotions, and he’s mentioned in the past that the reason he doesn’t do them is because if one of his guys goes to another promotion and loses, it makes the UFC look bad. Such as the time Chuck Liddell went over to PRIDE to face Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, where he was finished via TKO.

Bellator Featherweight and Lightweight Champion Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire had some choice words for the UFC President after hearing these comments:

The thing is, Bellator does have some of the best fighters in the world. And yes, the UFC did let go of the top light-heavyweights in Bellator, Ryan Bader, Phil Davis, and now Corey Anderson.

However, Bader was ranked at No. 4 when he departed, Davis was ranked at No. 4 when he departed, and Anderson was ranked at No. 6 when he parted ways.

The UFC let go of a lot of names that ended up going to Bellator, literally dozens. Sergio Pettis was a top five flyweight and a top fifteen bantamweight in the UFC, Gegard Mousasi was ranked at No. 4 in the middleweight division and was on a five-fight win streak with four straight knockouts.

Rory MacDonald was ranked at No. 2 in the welterweight division when he decided to jump ship to Bellator, Benson Henderson was also ranked at No. 7 in the lightweight division before he left.

Then they have talents like Douglas Lima, Patricio and Patricky Freire, Michael Chandler (who may be leaving very soon), AJ McKee, Patchy Mix, Adam Borics, Aaron Pico, Michael Page, Alexander Shlemenko, Anatoly Tokov, and many, many others.

Bellator has a wealth of talent, and the UFC letting guys go has only helped them, amongst other promotions. The UFC also let Cris Cyborg go, who’s pretty universally considered the second best women’s fighter ever.

‘Pitbull’ is one of the best fighters on the entire planet. He won the Bellator Featherweight Championship two different times, and has a total of five title defenses.

Freire has the most knockouts and the most finishes in Bellator featherweight history, he has the most wins in Bellator title fights, the most wins in Bellator featherweight history, as well as being tied for second in the most wins in Bellator history.

He’s one of only two fighters to win belts in two weight classes in Bellator, and he has the second most finishes in Bellator history.

‘Pitbull’ has a record of 30-4, and he’s avenged two of his last three defeats, with the other being an injury, and his first coming via split decision. It’d be great to see him face Alexander Volkanovski, or whoever is on top of the UFC featherweight division should this ever happen.

Would you like to see the UFC cross promote fights with Bellator?

Bellator Featherweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals Set

Bellator concluded the round of 16 of their Featherweight Grand Prix at Bellator 228 last night in Inglewood, California. Already moving on to the quarterfinals was Emmanuel Sanchez, Derek Campos, Adam Borics, and Pedro Carvalho. In the second part, it was A.J. McKee, Darrion Caldwell, Daniel Weichel, and Patricio Freire who got their hand raised. […]

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Bellator concluded the round of 16 of their Featherweight Grand Prix at Bellator 228 last night in Inglewood, California.

Already moving on to the quarterfinals was Emmanuel Sanchez, Derek Campos, Adam Borics, and Pedro Carvalho. In the second part, it was A.J. McKee, Darrion Caldwell, Daniel Weichel, and Patricio Freire who got their hand raised.

Following all the fights, Bellator decided to a selection show where fighters could choose one of four dates, or an opponent if the options was available. In a random draw by picking cards the order and what they choose are as follows.

  • McKee received first pick, chose December.
  • Borics received the second pick, chose January
  • Caldwell received the third pick, chose March
  • Weichel received the fourth pick, chose February
  • Sanchez received the fifth pick and chose Weichel in February.
  • Campos received the sixth pick and chose McKee in December
  • Carvalho received the seventh pick and chose Caldwell in March
  • Freire received eighth pick and the “champ’s choice,” which gave him the power to override and choose whatever fight he wanted. He chose Carvalho in March. Meaning, Caldwell was shifted to fight Borics in January.

So, in the quarter-finals, the matchups are as follows.

  • A.J. McKee vs. Derek Campos – December 2019
  • Adam Borics vs. Darrion Caldwell – January 2020
  • Emmanuel Sanchez vs. Daniel Weichel – February 2020
  • Patricio Freire vs. Pedro Carvalho (featherweight title on the line) – March 2020

Bellator got a ton of props from fans, media, and fighters for the creativity behind this. They let the fighters pick the bracket, and when, where, and who they wanted to fight.

At this time, December is set to be in Hawaii, January at The Forum, and Scott Coker said they are still working on February and March, where February will most likely be on Connecticut.

Who do you think will win the quarterfinal matchups?

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Patricio Freire Rubs In Michael Chandler Win: ‘I’m Superior’

Patricio Freire is riding high off his Bellator lightweight title victory over Michael Chandler – and he’s not shy to show it. Freire took to Twitter today (Sat. May 25, 2019) and rubbed in his first-round knockout victory by tagging Chandler in the following message: “I’m faster than you, and bigger than you, and more […]

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Patricio Freire is riding high off his Bellator lightweight title victory over Michael Chandler – and he’s not shy to show it.

Freire took to Twitter today (Sat. May 25, 2019) and rubbed in his first-round knockout victory by tagging Chandler in the following message:

“I’m faster than you, and bigger than you, and more powerful than you. And every single aspect that you think you’re good, in this sport, I’m superior.”

Chandler was quick to respond, telling “Pitbull” to keep his name out of his mouth unless he accepts their rematch:

“Don’t say my name unless you take the rematch…”

Freire made it clear he takes orders from nobody, and will do whatever he wants:

“I do whatever the fuck I want. How did those tears taste?”

The pair main evented Bellator 221 in Rosemont, Illinois earlier this month (Sat. May 11, 2019). Freire, the featherweight champion of the world, challenged for Chandler’s then-lightweight belt. It only took “Pitbull” one minute to dispatch of Chandler, finishing him via TKO.

Now, Freire sits alongside light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Ryan Bader as the only two “Champ Champs” in Bellator. It will be interesting to see if Freire decides to grant Chandler an immediate rematch next.

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