Even though Patricio
Freire won the rematch against A.J. McKee,
“Pitbull” could not deny the skills of his opponent.
At
Bellator 277 on April 15, Freire (33-5) exacted revenge on
McKee (18-1) by claiming a unanimous decision and handing
“Mercenary” his first career defeat. While the fight was close and
a
few media scorers awarded the win to “Pitbull,” Freire kept his
promise to the fans by winning the sixth rematch of his career. The
Brazilian has still never lost when fighting a person for the
second time, and he spoke to Sherdog about why he always wins his
so-called ‘revenge fights.’
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“I’m like a fighting nerd,” Freire explained. “When I commit a
mistake or my opponent gets some advantage over me, I live to
correct that and study every move of my opponent. That’s what I did
after A.J. defeated me. Also, I could feel he was too cocky and
self-confident in the backstage, and that’s not good for a
champion. The best lesson to him came with the result.”
As Freire said in the post-fight press conference, the only
possibility of a trilogy would be McKee renewing his contract with
Bellator and staying in the featherweight division. McKee himself
mentioned that he considered moving up to 155 pounds going forward.
If that happened, Freire would hope that McKee would meet his
brother, lightweight champ Patricky
Freire.
“If he wants a trilogy, it would be a pleasure to face him in my
division,” “Pitbull” said. “But if he intends to go up, there is
another ‘Pitbull’ there anxious to welcome him with a huge
knockout. Against Patricky, he wouldn’t have the same range
advantage, and also my brother [hits] harder than I [do].”
Freire believes McKee will soon sign with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, even if he does
so coming off a loss.
“A win over me would make his life easier,” Freire noted. “As far
as I know, he asked an absurd amount of money [from] Bellator and
did not sign [a] contract yet. But, anything can happen.”
In case McKee signs with rival organization UFC, “Pitbull” sees
McKee having a realistic chance to claim the belt in its
featherweight division.
“If he really decides to go to lightweight, it’s a new reality,”
Freire stated, “but if he goes to [the] UFC [at] featherweight, I
have no doubt he will be a bad matchup for any top contender,
including [Alexander]
Volkanovski.”
Whether McKee moves to lightweight or leaves for greener pastures
in the UFC, the champion believes that his next title defense must
be against Adam
Borics.
“He is a great kickboxer who is doing a great job in Bellator. Our
matchup has everything to bring a lot of entertainment to the fans.
Let’s make it,” Freire concluded.