In the main event of Bellator 221, featherweight champion, Patricio Freire is moving up in weight to take on the lightweight champion, Michael Chandler. Although Freire is looking to become just the second champ-champ in Bellator’s history, he doesn’t care about the stakes. Rather, the Brazilian just wants to hurt Chandler.
“I want to kick him in the face, I want to hurt him,” Freire told MMA Junkie through an interpreter ahead of Bellator 221. “That’s all that matters to me. … I only think about to fight Michael Chandler. I don’t worry about the belt, about fighting in another division – it’s about the challenger.”
Why ‘Pitbull’ wants to hurt Chandler so bad is not because the lightweight champion beat Patricky twice, as many think.
“It’s not because (he beat Patricky),” Freire said. “Everyone knows he fought my brother two times and he beat him, but after the second fight, he talked (expletive) about my family. That’s why he’s going to pay.”
Ultimately, many believe the winner of this fight could very well be the greatest Bellator fighter ever, but according to “Pitbull”, he already holds that claim.
“In my mind, I am the best fighter in Bellator history,” Freire said. “This time I am not thinking about the belt, about my legacy and solidifying my spot as the greatest in the organization because I already know I am that. My focus is on Michael Chandler. It’s all about that. All that comes to my mind is beating him.”
MMA News interviewed Chandler ahead of Bellator 221. You can check that out here.
