Instead of a trilogy against A.J. McKee,
Patricio
Freire will next defend his featherweight title against
Adam
Borics in the
Bellator 286 main event.
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The
Press-Telegram was first to report the booking. McKee won’t be
far from the featured proceedings, however, as he will make his
155-pound debut against Spike
Carlyle in the co-main event. Sherdog.com subsequently
confirmed the bouts with a promotion official. Bellator 286 takes
place on Oct. 1 at Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, Calif., and the
evening’s main card will air on Showtime.
After losing the 145-pound belt to McKee in a first-round
submission loss at Bellator 263 in July 2021, Freire regained the
title with a five-round verdict against his rival in the Bellator
277 headliner on April 15. “Pitbull” has won eight of his last nine
promotional appearances dating back to 2017.
Borics, meanwhile, earned a unanimous decision against Mads
Burnell in a title eliminator bout at Bellator 276 on March 12.
The 29-year-old Hungary native has won four straight Bellator
appearances and nine of his last 10 overall within the
organization. His lone defeat in 19 professional outings came
against Darrion
Caldwell at Bellator 238.
Prior to relinquishing the featherweight strap to Freire, McKee had
been victorious in his first 18 professional outings — all under
the Bellator banner. His resume includes notable triumphs over the
likes of Pat Curran,
Georgi
Karakhanyan, Caldwell and Freire.
Carlyle has won five straight bouts since a 1-2 stint in the UFC.
The 29-year-old Kings MMA product followed a rear-naked choke win
over Dan
Moret in his Bellator debut this past December with another
submission victory, this time over Koji Takeda
at Rizin 35 on April 17. He has finished all of his last five
opponents inside the distance.
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