Bellator president Scott Coker put the kibosh on talks of Michael Chandler vs. Patricio Freire.
Chandler, who is a lightweight, has gotten into a bit of a beef with “Pitbull,” the reigning Bellator featherweight champion. This dates back to June 2016. Chandler knocked out Patricio’s brother Patricky in the first round. Patricio claimed Chandler talked trash to him afterwards and the feud was on.
The issue lies in weight class. Freire is the 145-pound title holder, while Chandler is in lightweight title contention once again. There’s also the possibility that having Freire at lightweight along with his brother could create problems. These issues aren’t lost on Coker.
The Bellator president recently appeared on MMAFighting.com‘s “The MMA Hour” to explain why Chandler vs. Freire is a no-go:
“At the end of the day, we were not interested in putting two brothers in title contention in the same weight class .That’s why we chose to not do it.”
Freire had claimed that he wanted a five-round bout. Instead, he was offered three rounds. In Bellator, only title bouts are five rounds. Chandler is scheduled to take on Brandon Girtz at Bellator 197.
Do you believe Scott Coker will eventually book Michael Chandler vs. Patricio Freire?
