DUBLIN – Jeremy Kennedy believes his grappling is levels above Pedro Carvalho.
Kennedy (18-3 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) faces Carvalho (13-6 MMA, 6-3 BMMA) in Saturday’s Bellator 291 co-main event at 3Arena. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
Coming off back-to-back wins over Emmanuel Sanchez and Aaron Pico, Kennedy expects to be a handful for Carvalho on the mat.
“The grappling difference I think is just gonna be huge regardless with anybody I fight,” Kennedy told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Bellator 291 media day on Wednesday. “I don’t care who you are. Pedro, I just think this is a big gap for him that he’s going to have to fill and figure out how to fill. But that just puts the rest of the division on notice, as well.”
He continued, “I’m better than all of these guys at what I do, my A-game. So that’s what they have to worry about: ‘How the hell am I gonna keep this guy off of (me)?’ This fight I’m looking to make a statement, so I think you’re gonna see other tools that guys are gonna look back and be like, ‘Damn, now where do we go with this guy?’”
With a win over Carvalho, Kennedy seeks a title shot against featherweight champion Patricio Freire and expects to be a bad matchup for him too.
“Who has he fought that resembles anything that I do?,” Kennedy asked. “It’s a list of Wiechel, Sanchez – A.J. (McKee) is maybe the closest, and they’re 1-1, and A.J. does not push his grappling and his wrestling like he could. Chandler didn’t have the chance. I would like to see the list of hard-pressure fighter-grapplers that he’s fought, and it’s a very small list.”
He continued, “I don’t think you get much bigger than me at ’45. ‘Pitbull,’ I’ve always thought is a little small for ’45, and I just think stylistically I’m a nightmare for him. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s cutting now to try and get to 35 already.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 291.
Jeremy Kennedy: My grappling ‘a big gap’ Pedro Carvalho has to fill at Bellator 291