“The pandemic has changed everything,” Patricio Pitbull admits ahead of April 2’s Bellator 255.
It’s been a long wait for Pitbull (fully Patricio Freire) to get to the featherweight grand prix semi-final against Emmanuel Sanchez. On the surface, it doesn’t seem so bad: the Bellator double-champ, who holds featherweight and lightweight gold in the promotion, last fought in November, defeating Pedro Carvalho by knockout to move forward in the tournament.
Consider, however, that the grand prix began way back in September 2019. AJ McKee has already moved on to the final; Pitbull (31-4) will face Emmanuel Sanchez to determine who stands against him later this year.
It’s a rematch of their 2018 meeting, and Pitbull doesn’t see Sanchez as having grown all that much in the years that followed. “I don’t think he’s changed very much. He’s still a very tough, very conservative fighter, but he’s the same fighter as when we fought,” the champion suggested, speaking to Cageside Press on Wednesday.
When it was suggested that maybe a new opponent would be more inspiring than a rematch, Pitbull replied by saying that “it depends pretty much on the circumstances. Overall, I prefer to fight new guys.” After preparing for and beating a fighter once, Pitbull doesn’t see much of a point in doing it again.
“At the same time, it depends how it goes after the fight,” he added. “When I fought Daniel Straus, I beat him twice, and then we had a third fight. I don’t think we needed to have that third fight. And so close to each other — we fought twice in one year. I don’t think that should have happened.”
“When it comes to Emmanuel Sanchez, the fight was a war, and he talked a lot of crap after that, saying that I didn’t finish him, that he’s never been finished and all that,” Pitbull continued. “And when I knocked out [Michael] Chandler, once again, he was talking crap, saying how he wasn’t finished.” Pitbull also took offense from Chandler’s suggesting that he had put the Brazilian in hospital after their first meeting. “I went to the hospital after the first fight because I fought sick, not because of anything he did, and he talked crap about that too.”
So there are exceptions where rematches are warranted. “There’s a special case to face someone like that. Because if he’s so eager to get finished, I’m eager to go in and finish him and settle this once and for all.”
Speaking of Chandler, the former Bellator lightweight champion, who Pitbull finished via TKO to claim 155lb gold, made his debut in the UFC earlier this year. Patricio knows that Chandler’s success can boost his own profile, but he’s also clear that it shouldn’t matter where someone fights. “It’s not about where you fight, it’s about what type of fighter you are,” he stated. “Promotions don’t define fighters. Fighters define fighters.”
When it comes to defining his own legacy, in the past, Pitbull had expressed a desire to claim yet another belt, at bantamweight. A feat that would see him become the first triple champion in a major MMA promotion. But those bantamweight title aspirations on hold at least for the time being. Noting that he could make 135 while keeping his weight low for featherweight bouts, Freire recognized that “we have that issue with the lightweight division. I haven’t defended my title since I won it, and I haven’t been able to vacate it either.”
The 155lb division has been on hold for almost two years now, Pitbull pointed out. “It wouldn’t be fair to keep it on hold, to go after another belt. I think the timing was lost.” If a bantamweight title opportunity had happened when he first asked for it, before Pitbull even won the lightweight title, things might be different.
The idea now is to fight three times this year if possible. “There’s plenty of time, and that’s the idea. To beat Emmanual Sanchez now, defeat AJ McKee, and defend the lightweight title [later in the year],” Pitbull confirmed.
However, should brother Patricky Pitbull be awarded a title shot at 155lbs, Patricio is ready to vacate the belt. Patricky had been on the best run of his career, up until a loss for RIZIN in late 2019. “He’s on a five-fight win streak in the Bellator lightweight division. He already deserves to fight for the belt,” opined Pitbull. “So if Bellator wants to put him in to fight for it, I can vacate it any time.”
Bellator 255, which sees Patricio Pitbull put his featherweight title on the line against Emmanuel Sanchez, takes place Friday, April 2, airing live on Showtime.
