In an interview today with Ariel Helwani, Bellator President Scott Coker drops bombs about upcoming news for the organization. And it all kicks off in just one month.
First he confirmed that former champ-champ Patricio Freire, who recently lost his featherweight title to A.J. McKee; will be vacating his lightweight title. He and his older brother had teased they’d fight for the 155 strap, but that was never going to happen. They had a deal in place with their parents like the Klitschko brothers, never to fight one another, for real. So, “Pitbull” goes from double champ to no champ.
He never got a chance to defend the lightweight title, being the featherweight champion in the grand prix. Coker’s confirmation of the news comes after the 34-year old Brazilian tweeted out the following:
Honor and family come first. When I first won the LW belt it was just about revenge. It was still an honor, but with the loss at 145 I’m starting over. It’s time for the LW division to move on and for @PatrickyPitbull to have his shot. My focus is on AJ and him only. #TheMMAHour
— Patricio Pitbull (@PatricioPitbull) October 6, 2021
And with that, comes the official Coker news bomb. It’s now Patricky Freire getting his chance at glory. The vacated title will be up for grabs at Bellator 270, when he faces SBG Ireland product Peter Queally.
Scott Coker Drops Bombs, There’s More
And the news didn’t end there. Coker also said that starting in January 2022, all Bellator non-title main events will move to five-rounds. That comes on the heels of two fights, that left everyone wanting more.
Yoel Romero versus Phil Davis, and then Douglas Lima against Michael Venom Page. Romero, the newest acquisition of the company for some reason didn’t know his fight wasn’t five rounds and was visibly angered before Michael C. Williams read the score cards.
Barring a massive comeback or a flash finish however, the controlling grappling of “Mr. Wonderful” would have continued. Lima and MVP though really put the chatter about this in the forefront though. Anyone watching that fight could have argued 29-28 either way. And post fight Page himself was saying he’d be up for the move. And now Coker himself sees it that way too.
