Patricio ‘Pitbull’ vacates Bellator lightweight title

Patricky Pitbull will take on Peter Queally for the vacant belt.

From champ-champ to champ to no champ in the span of a few months.

Bellator MMA president Scott Coker revealed to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour that Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire has vacated his lightweight title, which he won back in 2019 with a famous KO of Michael Chandler. Later in the interview, Patricio explained his reasoning for giving up the 155 lbs strap.

“If I lost [the title] at 145 pounds, I can’t be the champion at 155,” Pitbull said (via MMA Fighting).

“The other side, I have my brother as No. 1 contender. If he keeps winning, he’s gonna fight for the belt and I’m not gonna fight my brother.”

Patricky Pitbull’s rematch with Peter Queally at Bellator 270 on November 5th will now be for the vacant belt. Unlike Patricio, Patricky has never won Bellator gold so this is a huge opportunity for him.

Patricio, Bellator’s most decorated featherweight champion of all-time, is focused on a rematch with McKee, the unbeaten phenom who won both the title and the $1 million tournament prize in a stunning first-round victory.

As for Patricky, he lost to SBG Ireland’s Queally via cut stoppage in their first meeting at Bellator 258 in May. The scorecards had it 19-19, 19-19, and 20-18 Queally at the time the fight was called off due to excessive and unrelenting bleeding from the Brazilian.