Bellator MMA lightweight champ Patricky
Freire will only step aside for one man: his brother, Patricio
Freire.
After capturing the Bellator lightweight belt at Bellator 270 with
an impressive second-round knockout of Peter
Queally in front of a hostile Irish crowd this past November,
Freire has found himself challenged by featherweight champion
A.J.
McKee constantly on social media. Once his brother Patricio
avenged Patricky’s own loss to Michael
Chandler, Patricky saw the opportunity as the perfect path to
retribution for what his brother did for him then. Patricky spoke
to Sherdog on Wednesday about the possible matchup with McKee, and
why he can’t take it yet.
“I would love to beat up McKee for [Patricio], but my brother is
‘too hungry’; he told me to stay away from McKee,” Patricky
admitted. “That fight is his, and I obeyed.”
According to the lightweight champion, his return is already set up
and his camp already started. At the time, he was unable to reveal
the name and date of the fight, simply because his prospective
opponent hasn’t signed the contract yet. When asked about some of
the possible challengers in Sidney
Outlaw and Brent
Primus, as compared to McKee, Patricky had some thoughts.
“I would put Primus first, McKee in second and Outlaw in third,”
“Pitbull” explained. “Even being the [#1 ranked Bellator
lightweight], Outlaw is not very good in any area. He has nice
wrestling, but without a variety of throws and reasonable striking,
that’s why I think he would be the least dangerous among the
three.”
Freire continued, “A.J. is a dangerous southpaw, undefeated and
very technical, but I really think he will have a hard time coming
up to lightweight, where the guys are much more explosive, strong
and normally fight weighing 180 lbs. It´s a totally different world
from what he is used to.”
“In my opinion, Primus is the toughest among them. Besides already
being a champion, the guy is giant for that division, has a great
jiu-jitsu and looks strong as a war tank. But as opportunities
come, I’ll beat every one of them and prove why I have this belt
with me,” Patricky finished.