Patricio "Pitbull" Freire shows off his Bellator featherweight and lightweight titles.
After becoming champ-champ, Patricio Pitbull eyes fight with Canelo Alvarez
Now that he has settled the bad blood with Michael Chandler and become the second fighter to achieve champ-champ status in Bellator history, Patricio Pitbull is eyeing a fight with boxing star Canelo Alvarez. Following his first-round win over Michael Chandler at Bellator 221 to become the lightweight champion, Pitbull, the reigning Bellator featherweight champion called for a fight with Alvarez during his post-fight press conference.
Following down a path that was made by former UFC champ-champ Conor McGregor, Patricio believes a fight with Alvarez is the next best fight for him. McGregor won the UFC’s lightweight title back in 2016 while he was holding the UFC’s featherweight title and would then go on to challenge Floyd Mayweather in a crossover super fight, a fight that Mayweather would win by TKO.
When speaking to reporters backstage, Patricio Pitbull was asked if he would still like to fight Canelo, which had been mentioned during fight week.
“I think I can do well against him [Canelo], I watched his last fight and I really think I can fight him. Now I have two belts, he has a lot of belts too, it’s going to be a good match.”
Pitbull did say that he has not spoken to Bellator President Scott Coker about a fight with Canelo just yet, and did not offer any timeline as to when that talk could take place. With Canelo being a contracted fighter with DAZN who also has a partnership with Bellator, the angle of chasing the fight could come through their streaming provider.
The last time Canelo Alvarez fought was on May 4, when he defeated Daniel Jacobs by decision to unify three middleweight titles, but Pitbull says Canelo didn’t seem like he wanted to be there and fight.
“He was different. He’s not the same, I don’t know why. I like him but he looks like he didn’t want to fight.”
When asked how a fight between himself and Canelo would be different from McGregor vs Mayweather, Pitbull said unlike the Irish superstar, he’ll show up to get the win.
“McGregor went there to have the fight, I’m going to fight with my heart and I’m going out there to win.”
Patricio Pitbull isn’t the only one who sees a victory for him against Canelo, his coach Eric Albarracin sees a motivated Pitbull, and that could lead to victory in this potential superfight.
“When I was watching that Canelo fight, I kind of felt the way Patricio did, like Canelo didn’t want to fight. He just signed a huge $350 million contract so maybe he’s not as motivated as before, but I can guarantee Patricio Pitbull is motivated. The way he just knocked out Michael Chandler is similar to how McGregor knocked out Eddie Alvarez who went on to fight Floyd so, you never know.”
Now that he’s the Bellator featherweight and lightweight champion, Patricio Pitbull is eyeing bigger fights and bigger prizes. He may not be the first champ-champ in Bellator history, but he sounds very confident that he can be the first MMA champion to defeat a boxing champion, and his coaching staff seems to feel the same way.
