Bellator double champ Patricio Pitbull, who returns to action at Bellator 255 this Friday, holds a win over current UFC lightweight contender Michael Chandler. In fact, while the Brazilian will defend his featherweight belt Friday against Emmanuel Sanchez, it was Chandler he defeated for 155lb gold.
So he’s a bit thrown off by seeing one of the MMA world’s major record keepers, Tapology, listing him well back of Chandler in their rankings. Chandler is #4 at lightweight, Pitbull #21 in his native featherweight division.
It’s worth noting that Tapology’s rankings are user-generated, so fanboy bias applies. But Pitbull admitted during the Bellator 255 media day this week that “for me, those rankings are number one bullsh*t.”
“I wasn’t actually really angry, I was just giving my opinion that it’s kind of bullsh*t that you’ve got Michael Chandler fighting for the UFC title, yet a few months ago I knocked him out in under a minute,” Pitbull explained, with coach Eric Albarracin translating for him. “With a second win this fighter in Bellator’s going over to the UFC and fighting for a title. It’s absurd to have the person who knocked him out ranked at 21. What changed? What changed? It was only one fight in the UFC, against a City Kickboxer. What changed to make such a big difference or separation between [me] and Chandler?”
As the Brazilian champ noted, Chandler left Bellator off two wins, over Sidney Outlaw and Benson Henderson, then knocked out Dan Hooker in his UFC debut. That was enough to earn him a fight against Charles Oliveira for the UFC’s vacant lightweight title.
And if Chandler wins? Pitbull’s stock should in theory rise. As he sees it, “It means that the UFC is going to have to suck it up, because they’ve got the second best lightweight in the world, who lost to a guy that was coming up from a smaller weight class. They’re going to have to realize that the pound-for-pound best fighter is not in the UFC, he’s in Bellator. And his name is Patricio Pitbull.”
While Pitbull is fighting an old foe in Sanchez on Friday, Bellator has been replenishing its ranks with some top up-and-comers. The new blood isn’t a concern for Patricio Pitbull, however.
“I’ve already beaten four to five generations of Bellator’s best fighters,” he noted. “I went up a weight class and took off the head of the greatest lightweight in history. It doesn’t matter who they bring in, I’ll beat them all.”
Watch the full Bellator 255 virtual media day scrum with Patricio Pitbull above. Bellator 255 takes place Friday, April 2 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT. The card airs live on Showtime, and will be available in its entirety right here on Cageside Press.
