Patricio Freire believes James Gallagher moved down in weight to avoid fighting him.
Gallagher had been considered a hot featherweight prospect with his undefeated record, brash attitude, and his training under SBG Ireland. Gallagher recently revealed that he’s taking the trip down to bantamweight. He will meet Ricky Bandejas at Bellator 204 on Aug. 17.
Freire is coming off a successful featherweight title defense against Daniel Weichel at Bellator 203 in Italy. The “Pitbull” brothers have had a feud brewing with SBG Ireland and want to settle the score. Freire isn’t happy with the news that Gallagher decided to move down in weight.
Speaking to MMAJunkie.com, Freire went off on Gallagher:
“We’re going to fight against SBG – that’s the deal. Pitbull Brothers against SBG Ireland. Everyone likes this idea. I will fight everyone from there. SBG is a team that has one mouth and it’s Conor McGregor. Conor McGregor’s the only one that speaks and backs it up. They talk but they don’t back it up. James Gallagher talks smack but he doesn’t back it up. He’s already running away to 135 pounds. He’s running from me and running from Leandro Higo. If Bellator doesn’t book the fight we’ll go to Ireland and beat them up ourselves.”
Gallagher was last seen in action back in June 2017. He submitted Chinzo Machida in the opening round. Many felt it was Gallagher’s best performance, but injuries have sidelined him for over a year.
As for Freire, he’s gone 3-1 in his last four outings. In that span, he’s beaten Henry Corrales, Daniel Straus, and Weichel. His only loss in that time frame was to former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight title holder Benson Henderson due to a leg injury. Freire’s current reign as the Bellator featherweight champion is his second.
Do you think we’ll eventually get to see Patricio Freire vs. James Gallagher?
