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Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire could be on the verge of making history at Bellator 297 this Friday, and recently revealed that he intends to accomplish more in the future.
During his pre-fight media availability, the reigning featherweight champion spoke about his upcoming bantamweight title shot against Sergio Pettis and the possibility of becoming a three-division champion. He mentioned that he is confident with his preparation for his move to 135lbs and even teased challenging for a fourth title in the promotion.
He said:
"I want more. I can be a champion of other organizations, or perhaps go after a fourth division title...[135-pound champion] Sergio [Pettis] is dangerous, and I'm not looking past him at all."
The timing of his comments is interesting as the promotion recently announced that they will be introducing a men's flyweight division at the upcoming Bellator x Rizin 2 event in July, where Kyoji Horiguchi will fight Makoto Shinryu for the inaugural title. Despite not taking Pettis lightly, he mentioned that the possibility of winning a fourth title could be enticing, saying:
"I have a great challenge to conquer right now, but if I get through that, after I'm done, why not go for [the 125-pound title]?"
It remains to be seen how 'Pitbull' performs at bantamweight and whether he intends to remain at 135lbs as Patchy Mix is currently the interim bantamweight champion.
Who did Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire defeat to become two-division Bellator champion?
Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire has had a legendary tenure with Bellator and is arguably the greatest fighter in the promotion's history.
In 2019, he etched his name in the history books as he became a simultaneous two-division Bellator champion when he defeated Michael Chandler to become the new lightweight champion. It was a surprisingly short fight as Freire dropped Chandler with a right-hand and finished him with ground strikes.
Even though he won the lightweight title, he didn't defend it because he was participating in the featherweight Grand Prix, where he defended his featherweight championship in each round he fought.
