Patricio Pitbull eyeing triple-champion status as Bellator plans return to competition

Despite today’s global craziness, two-division Bellator champion Patricio Freire is still focused on doing something no other major promotion’s champion has even done: Become a true “Triple Champ.”

Yes, former UFC bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo called himself “Triple C,” but he never simultaneously held three UFC titles. In Bellator, Freire (30-4 MMA, 18-4 BMMA) is mapping his way towards an achievement that would break the ceiling of what’s considered possible in high-level MMA.

“I want to accomplish (being) a three-simultaneous-weight champion,” Freire told MMA Junkie on Tuesday. “I asked Bellator not only to defend my belt back in December (the lightweight belt), but also to fight for the vacated bantamweight belt. With the situation we’re in now, I would like to fight for the (lightweight) title at the end of the year. Then, I’d like to fight for the vacated bantamweight belt. After that, they could get some other directions for those divisions.”

Freire is in the midst of the delayed Bellator featherweight grand prix, which was put on hold when the COVID-19 pandemic rocked North America. Freire will have to retain his 145-pound title three more times in order to win the tournament. It could be a while before he returns to lightweight competition, but Freire said he will only vacate on one condition.

“We have three guys at the top of the division (besides me),” Freire said. “We’ve got Chandler, Benson Henderson, and my brother, who, to me, is No. 1. He has the most consecutive wins in the division right now in Bellator. He’s only lost once, outside the promotion in a fight he won. … The only thing to do would be (to) figure out who’s the No. 1 contender. Who’s going to fight for the belt?

“If Bellator decides to give the opportunity to my brother, I have no problem vacating it. He’s the one that deserves it most right now. He’s been deserving it for a long time. The belt to me, was secondary. I’ve said this many times. All I wanted to do was get Michael Chandler’s head and put it on my shelf at home. It’s right here beside me. I already accomplished what I set out to do. After I became the champion, I thought it would only be to defend the title. With this pandemic and everything else that’s going on, we’re delayed.”

Freire implied he’s talked to Bellator, but currently doesn’t know any more than the public does. On the promotion’s first card back from the pandemic, Freire said he hopes to fight Pedro Carvalho in the tournament quarterfinals.

“The information that I have is what everyone has,” Freire said. “Bellator might return by the end of July. My desire is to return at the first event they have, but I haven’t heard anything from the promotion yet.”