Former Bellator MMA featherweight king Patricio
Freire wants to run it back with A.J. McKee one
day, but he is not in a rush to line it up.
Freire (23-5) and McKee (18-0) met at
Bellator 263, for the finals of the featherweight grand prix
with a championship, tournament belt and $1 million check on the
line. In their meeting, McKee stunned “Pitbull” with a head kick,
and finished him off with a guillotine choke in under two minutes.
The Brazilian, after taking a few days off to spend time with his
family, spoke to
Ag. Fight on Thursday about his defeat and prospects going
forward.
Freire was none too thrilled by the stoppage in that bout, when
referee Mike Beltran intervened believing that “Pitbull” went limp
from the choke. While Freire did ultimately congratulate McKee,
crediting the younger fighter for his successes, he believes he was
not given the full opportunity to get out of the perilous
situation.
“A.J. made me commit a mistake that I was not used to and caught me
with a nice combination,” Freire admitted. “He deserves all the
merit for that, but I did not tap and I was not unconscious.
Yesterday, I saw a video in another angle that shows one of my arms
going up to defend the choke. I don’t want to be a bad loser, but I
also want to be fair. I’m pretty confused about that.”
Knowing the California State Athletic Commission typically defers
to the referee’s in-cage decision, and that there is little hope
for an appeal, he is ready to move on and try to exact revenge in
the future.
“McKee is very smart,” Freire stated. “He just got the title in
[the] featherweight division [by] beating the number one
[pound-for-pound fighter], and even never having fought in
lightweight, he already wants the title. I believe that if they
made the [rematch], it has to be in the original category [of
featherweight]. He never fought in the lightweight division. I
already gave a lot of advantages to them.”
“Pitbull” is not in a rush to get the win back, or immediately get
back in the cage against McKee, despite his obvious interest in a
rematch. The winningest fighter in Bellator history is aware that a
second bout with McKee, especially if it were for his lightweight
crown, would be among the biggest fights that the organization
could possibly put together.
“Let him break his body a little bit, training to make some
five-round camps,” “Pitbull” said. “That’s where the champions work
hard. If he doesn’t fight at featherweight, the title will be
vacant. If he wants to go up and face me [at] lightweight, [we’re]
gonna have to sit down and make a new negotiation. It has to be
fair. I’m not sure if it’s the right thing to do now.”