Peter Queally: SBG Ireland vs. Pitbull Brothers rivalry fizzled a bit, but Patricky Freire fight will still be a banger
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Despite Bellator’s recent lengthy layoff, Peter Queally still thinks his upcoming matchup with Patricky Freire is highly anticipated.
But Queally doesn’t believe that just because of the rivalry between their respective gyms, SBG Ireland and Pitbull Brothers, but because of the stylistic matchup. After their planned Bellator Dublin headliner in October fell through, the pair were rebooked for Friday’s Bellator 258 card and Queally (12-5-1 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) said he feels fortunate that the matchup with Freire (23-9 MMA, 14-7 BMMA) remained intact.
“I was worried I was going to lose that fight, to be honest, because after I broke my hand, they had re-matched him as they should have, but then he ended up getting sick or something and he pulled out of that (Willis) fight, so then they rescheduled this,” Queally told MMA Junkie on Wednesday. “So I thought he would win that fight, and I’d lose this, but I’m delighted to have it.”
The rivalry between both gyms dates back to last year, where part of it got settled when Patricky’s brother, dual-champ Patricio Freire, knocked out Queally’s teammate Pedro Carvalho in the quarterfinals of the featherweight grand prix.
Though Queally admits that things have been rather quiet between the teams ever since the initial Freire booking fell apart, that certainly doesn’t mean the fight won’t deliver.
“I feel like a little bit of it has fizzled compared to – it’s still there, but compared to what it was, a little bit had fizzled away because it’s a long time ago,” Queally said. “It’s over a year ago now that we actually met him. I feel like we’ve been preparing for this fight forever, my whole life at this stage, so the real heat with this fight is people are starting to realize what it’s going to be. It’s going to be just a bloodbath of a thing with the two of our styles, so that’s where I think the excitement is now rather than this b*tchy rivalry or whatever. I know this is going be a scrap, which is what I’m excited about.”
Bellator 258 takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
To see the full interview with Queally, check out the video above.
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