Jeremy Kennedy wants respect in Bellator rankings after Emmanuel Sanchez win, calls out Pedro Carvalho

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Jeremy Kennedy was not happy with his placement in the Bellator rankings heading into Friday evening.

Kennedy (17-3 MMA, 2-1 BMMA), a former UFC and PFL fighter, entered Bellator 272 as the No. 9 featherweight in the official promotional rankings, which was too low for his liking. Not only does he want to see his positioning become closer to the top after Friday’s unanimous decision win over Emmanuel Sanchez (20-7 MMA, 12-6 BMMA), but he also has his next opponent in mind as well.

“I think there’s a lot of dust that has to settle at the top of the division,” Kennedy told reporters during the post-fight news conference. “He (Sanchez) was ranked No. 4, I think that has to put me up there. I didn’t like being ranked ninth, you know? It was a little sour taste in my mouth. I feel like finally, I’ll get that respect I deserve.”

Kennedy bounced back into the win column with Friday’s dominant win over Sanchez in which all three judges turned in scores of 30-27. He has now won two of three under the Bellator banner and believes it’s time to take on the best names available in the division. Next up, he wants a former title challenger.

“The fight that’s on my mind is Pedro Carvalho,” Kennedy said. “We’ve been talking back and forth and he was just trying to big-time me, you know? He was coming off back-to-back losses and then he just won now, right? At the time, the way he was handling it – it was a friendly call out, to start out. The way he dealt with it was just a sour taste.”

Check out the full post-fight interview with Kennedy in the video above.