Bellator double-champion Patricio Pitbull will defend his title against Juan Archuleta in the first round of the Featherweight Grand Prix on September 28 in Inglewood, California.
Per Ariel Helwani of ESPN, featherweight and lightweight champion Patricio Pitbull Freire is expected to face Juan Archuleta in the first round of the Bellator Featherweight Grand Prix on September 28 at the Forum in Inglewood, California.
Freire most recently went up to lightweight in May where he defeated Michael Chandler by first-round knockout to become a two-division champion. By doing so, Freire broke the record for most victories overall in Bellator and the most victories in championship fights in the promotion. Freire has not lost since 2016 when he took a lightweight bout against Benson Henderson.
Juan Archuleta most recently knocked out former champion Eduardo Dantas in a featherweight bout in June. He had previously said that a fight with Bellator and RIZIN champion Kyoji Horiguchi for Bellator’s bantamweight title was his priority, but was also open to entering the Featherweight Grand Prix if the opportunity was offered. It was recently announced that Horiguchi would be fighting Kai Asakura in a non-title bout in RIZIN on August 18. Archuleta is riding an 18-fight win streak and has fought five times for Bellator.
No additional bouts have been announced however the booking seems to confirm that Freire’s championship will be on the line throughout the tournament just as Rory MacDonald’s was for the Welterweight Grand Prix. President Scott Coker has said that he planned to have the entire first round contested on the same night which means other match-ups featuring names like AJ McKee and Daniel Straus could be announced in the coming weeks.
