Patricio “Pitbull” Freire News

Fernando Quiles - November 20, 2022

Bellator Featherweight Champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire is none too pleased with the Illinois athletic commission and Bellator. Freire’s brother, Patricky, put the Bellator Lightweight Championship on the line against Usman Nurmagomedov inside Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. The title fight served as the co-main event of Bellator 288. Nurmagomedov had a dominant showing and swept the scorecards for a unanimous decision victory. He’s now the new Bellator Lightweight Champion.

Harry Kettle - October 4, 2022

Henry Cejudo has given his thoughts on a potential crossover match-up between Patricio Pitbull and Alex Volkanovski. It’s no secret that Alex Volkanovski is widely considered to be one of the best mixed martial artists in the world, largely due to the incredible record he’s been able to string together on his way to becoming the UFC featherweight champion.

Harry Kettle - October 3, 2022

Patricio Pitbull has given his thoughts on a possible crossover fight against UFC featherweight king Alex Volkanovski. When it comes to figuring out who the pound for pound best fighter in the sport is, it’s hard to look past Alex Volkanovski. The Australian sensation has turned away everyone that’s stepped in his path since joining the UFC, including Max Holloway on three separate occasions.

Fernando Quiles - October 2, 2022

Patricio Freire isn’t about to apologize for his performance at Bellator 286. “Pitbull” put the Bellator Featherweight Championship on the line against Adam Borics at Bellator 286. The action took place inside Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, California. The title fight went the distance, but the lack of action left fans feeling restless.

Chris Taylor - October 1, 2022

Patricio Freire put his featherweight title on the line against Adam Borics in the headliner of tonight’s Bellator 286 event. Freire (34-5 MMA) was returning to action for the first time since April’s Bellator 277 event, where he reclaimed the promotions 145lbs title with a unanimous decision win over A.J. McKee. ‘Pitbull’ had gone 8-1 over his past nine Bellator appearances ahead of tonight’s event.

Josh Evanoff - September 29, 2022

Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull has his eyes set on bantamweight gold. The Brazilian has been out of action since his rematch with A.J. McKee in April. In their first encounter, ‘Mercenary’ picked up a first-round submission victory to win gold. In the rematch, Pitbull flipped the script, and re-won his title by unanimous decision.

Josh Evanoff - August 3, 2022

Patricio Pitbull, Adam Borics, and A.J. McKee have been added to Bellator 286 in October. In April, the Brazilian faced off with ‘Mercenary’ for the second time. They first faced off at Bellator 263 in July 2021, with the Bellator featherweight title on the line. That outing saw McKee capture the strap with a stunning first-round submission victory.

Josh Evanoff - April 22, 2022

Scott Coker has revealed that fans will likely see a Patricio Pitbull and A.J. McKee trilogy bout in the future. The two featherweights are coming off back to back clashes with one another. Their first encounter at Bellator 263 in July 2021 saw McKee win the Bellator Grand Prix by submission. Their follow-up bout at Bellator 277 last week saw Pitbull reclaim the featherweight title via unanimous decision.

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.

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.

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 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

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.