Patricio “Pitbull” Freire News

Chris Taylor - April 16, 2022

Rampage Jackson says that Friday’s ‘McKee vs. Pitbull 2’ fight resulted in the worst robbery he’s ever seen in MMA. McKee (18-1 MMA, 18-1 BMMA) and Freire (33-5 MMA, 21-5 BMMA) collided for a second time in the headliner of Bellator 277 last night in San Jose.

Chris Taylor - April 15, 2022

Tonight’s Bellator 277 event was headlined by a featherweight title fight rematch between A.J. McKee and Patricio Freire. McKee (18-1 MMA, 18-1 BMMA) was looking to earn his first career title defense when he squared off with ‘Pitbull’ for a second time this evening. ‘The Mercenary’ had won 5 of his previous 7 bouts in the very first round ahead of tonight’s affair.

Chris Taylor - April 15, 2022

Tonight’s Bellator 277 event is headlined by a featherweight title fight rematch between A.J. McKee and Patricio Freire. McKee (18-0 MMA, 18-0 BMMA) will be looking to earn his first career title defense when he squares off with ‘Pitbull’ for a second time this evening. ‘The Mercenary’ has won 5 of his past 7 bouts in the very first round, including his recent defeat of Freire.

Susan Cox - April 15, 2022

Bellator 277 takes place today, Friday April 15th with official results beginning at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT). The event takes place at SAP Center in San Jose, California. The main card airs on ‘Showtime’ following the online prelims.

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.

Adam D Martin - August 1, 2021

New Bellator featherweight champion AJ McKee says Max Holloway is his “dream fight” after beating Patricio Pitbull at Saturday’s Bellator 263. McKee and Pitbull met in the main event of Bellator 263 in what marked the finals of the Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix, a 16-man tournament that began nearly two years ago and only just now finished. Although Pitbull is the champion and one of the most experienced fighters to ever compete in Bellator, he was finished early in the first round when McKee rocked him with a head kick and then choked him out with a guillotine. It was an incredible finish by McKee and proved that he is one of the best featherweights in MMA.

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.

Adam D Martin - June 11, 2021

Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull vs. AJ McKee is set for the Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix finals this summer. Pitbull and McKee will meet on July 30 on Showtime, according to MMAFighting.com, with Pitbull’s 145lbs belt and the $1 million tournament grand prize up for grabs. The venue and location for the event have not been determined yet, although Bellator has been holding all of its shows at the Mohegan Sun Resort in Uncasville, Connecticut during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it’s possible the promotion could look to book this fight somewhere else where more fans will be allowed to attend since it’s such a big fight for the promotion.

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 31, 2021

Emmanuel Sanchez is eager to show how much he improved since November 15, 2018. On that date, Sanchez lost a decision to Patricio Pitbull for the featherweight title. It was a back-and-forth fight with both men hurting the other. Since the fight, both men have gone undefeated with Pitbull winning the lightweight title as well. But, in the main event of Bellator 255, which serves as the semifinals of the featherweight grand prix, Sanchez is eager to exact his revenge.

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.