Patricio “Pitbull” Freire News

Josh Evanoff - February 16, 2022

Bellator 277 has officially been announced for April 15th. The event is packing heat and has two of their biggest title fights of the year scheduled for it. The main event of the card will be the second chapter in the rivalry between A.J. McKee and Patricio Pitbull. The two first met at Bellator 263, where ‘Mercenary’ defeated the champion via first-round submission to claim featherweight gold. The bout was the finals of Bellator’s 2020 featherweight Grand Prix.

Adam D Martin - October 6, 2021

Former Bellator lightweight champion Patricio Pitbull issued a statement after he decided to vacate his title belt at 155lbs. Pitbull announced on social media on Wednesday in a statement that he is vacating the Bellator lightweight title. Bellator president Scott Coker told The MMA Hour that with the title being vacated, Pitbull’s brother Patricky will now get the vacant title shot. He will meet Peter Queally in a rematch for the belt at Bellator 270 on November 5 at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland. In his statement, Pitbull explained his decision to give up his belt at 155lbs.

Drake Riggs - September 2, 2021

Zhang Weili is changing things up ahead of her next fight. ESPN has confirmed with one of Zhang’s coaches, Pedro Jordao, that the first and only Chinese champion in UFC history will be doing things differently in her big rebound training camp.

Drake Riggs - August 2, 2021

AJ McKee is the new Bellator featherweight king. Bellator 263 this past Saturday night saw the 26-year old crowned to close out the 145-pound one-million-dollar Grand Prix. To do so, McKee put away the greatest fighter in promotional history, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, in just a single round.

Chris Taylor - July 31, 2021

Tonight’s Bellator 263 event was headlined by the tournament finals of the promotions 145-pound grand prix as Patricio Freire squared off with A.J. McKee. Patricio Freire (32-5 MMA), Bellator’s reigning featherweight champion, had entered tonight’s main event on a seven-fight winning streak, his latest being a first round submission victory over Emmanuel Sanchez in the featherweight grand prix semifinals.

Chris Taylor - July 31, 2021

Tonight’s Bellator 263 event is headlined by the tournament finals of the promotions 145-pound grand prix as Patricio Freire meets A.J. McKee. Patricio Freire (32-4 MMA), the reigning Bellator featherweight champion, will enter tonight’s main event sporting a seven-fight winning streak, his latest being a first round submission victory over Emmanuel Sanchez in the featherweight grand prix semifinals.

Chris Taylor - July 31, 2021

The fighter salaries for tonight’s Bellator 263 event have been revealed and featherweight headliners Patricio Freire and A.J. McKee are set to cash in. Freire and McKee will collide in the tournament finals of the promotions 145-pound grand prix this evening, with the winner set to take home an additional $1 million award.

Adam D Martin - July 30, 2021

Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull sent a warning about respect to his upcoming opponent AJ McKee ahead of Bellator 263. Pitbull, the Bellator 145lbs and 155lbs champion, steps into the cage on Saturday night in Los Angeles against McKee in the finals of the Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix. Pitbull has won seven straight fights heading into this finale, while McKee is undefeated with a 17-0 record in Bellator and in MMA. The son of former UFC fighter Antonio McKee is confident that he can beat Pitbull, and at the press conference ahead of the fight, he told the Brazilian that he would beat him up in front of his wife and kids. Pitbull did not take kindly to the comments and they got into an altercation afterwards, which he explained.

Cole Shelton - April 19, 2021

AJ McKee has known it would be him and Patricio Pitbull in the finals of the featherweight grand prix. McKee made quick work of Georgi Karakhanyan and then submitted Derek Camps and Darrion Caldwell to reach the finals. Pitbull, meanwhile, beat Juan Archuleta and then KO’d Pedro Carvalho and submitted Emmanuel Sanchez to reach the finals.

Adam D Martin - April 4, 2021

Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull and No. 1 contender AJ McKee got into a heated verbal exchange following Bellator 255. Pitbull finished Emmanuel Sanchez on Friday in the main event of Bellator 255 to advance to the finals of the Bellator World Featherweight Grand Prix. The Brazilian is the reigning and defending Bellator featherweight champion — not to mention the Bellator lightweight champion — and he will put his belt on the line once again in the finals against McKee, the top prospect who is the son of former UFC fighter Antonio McKee. The younger McKee looked absolutely sensational on his way to the finals and the undefeated fighter is arguably Pitbull’s toughest test to date. This should be an incredible finale at 145lbs.

Cole Shelton - April 2, 2021

In the main event of Bellator 255, Patricio Pitbull and Emmanuel Sanchez were set for a rematch three years in the making. The fight also served as the semifinals of the featherweight grand prix. Patricio Pitbull (31-4) is riding a six-fight winning streak and coming off a vicious KO win over Pedro Carvalho last November. Before that, he beat Juan Archuleta by decision and knocked out Michael Chandler in 61 seconds to claim the lightweight title and become a champ-champ. He also beat Sanchez back in November of 2018.

Cole Shelton - April 1, 2021

Patricio Pitbull has made it known, he wants a cross-promotional fight against Alex Volkanovski. Pitbull is the current featherweight and lightweight champion in Bellator while Volkanovski holds UFC gold at featherweight. Both men have taken shots at one another on social media, and Pitbull has called for the fight to happen. Yet, he doesn’t believe it will happen.

Cole Shelton - March 30, 2021

Patricio Pitbull knows he can’t just beat Emmanuel Sanchez in the main event of Bellator 255, but he has to finish him. Pitbull and Sanchez first met in 2018 with the Brazilian winning a decision. Since the fight, Sanchez has been campaigning for a rematch given he went the distance with the champ.

Adam Martin - March 29, 2021

Bellator released its inaugural rankings and Patricio Pitbull and Cris Cyborg have topped the promotion’s pound-for-pound rankings lists. Bellator announced the first-ever edition of its promotional fighter rankings on Monday. 17 media members voted on the Bellator rankings, and you can see them all below.

Adam D Martin - March 18, 2021

Two-division Bellator champion Patricio Pitbull trashed Tapology for ranking him as the 21st-best featherweight in the sport. Tapology is one of the top resources in the world of mixed martial arts. The website has an incredible record-keeping system in MMA and is generally regarded as the top MMA database going right now. However, Pitbull has a bone to pick with them about the site’s ranking systems. Tapology has its own rankings system where it ranks the best fighters in the world by division regardless of promotion. It’s worth noting that registered users submit their rankings, so it’s not Tapology itself that is doing the rankings, but MMA fans.

Adam D Martin - February 10, 2021

Patricio Pitbull promised to be “more violent and better” in his upcoming Bellator 255 rematch against rival Emmanuel Sanchez. On Tuesday, the promotion officially announced that Pitbull and Sanchez will meet on April 2 in the main event of Bellator 255. It will be a five-round fight with the Bellator featherweight title on the line, and the match is also a semifinal bout in the Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix, with the winner facing off against the unbeaten AJ McKee in June to crown the winner of the tournament.

Tom Taylor - February 1, 2021

Patricio Freire believes Michael Chandler will become the UFC lightweight champion, but that still won’t make him the sport’s best lightweight. Freire and Chandler are easily the two most accomplished fighters in Bellator MMA history. The pair have fought once before, with Freire knocking Chandler out to capture the promotion’s featherweight belt—though many feel it was a premature stoppage.

Adam Martin - January 26, 2021

Patricio Pitbull says that the success of Michael Chandler and Eddie Alvarez in the UFC is showing the “power of Bellator.” Chandler had an amazing UFC debut last weekend at UFC 257 when he brutally knocked out the typically-durable Dan Hooker with punches in the first round. Heading into the UFC, there were many question marks about the former three-time Bellator lightweight champion, but Chandler’s win over Hooker showed that he is an elite fighter. And if you think Chandler is good, just remember Pitbull knocked him out in June 2019. Both men are proof Bellator is home to some of the sport’s elite.