Patricio Freire vacates lightweight title, opens door for Patricky 'to have his shot' at Bellator 270

The stakes for Patricky Freire’s fight at Bellator 270 just got bigger thanks to his younger brother.

On Wednesday, Bellator president Scott Coker announced on “The MMA Hour” that Patricio Freire has vacated his lightweight championship. As a result, Patricky (23-10 MMA, 14-8 BMMA) and Peter Queally (13-5-1 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) now will fight for the vacant 155-pound title in the main event of Bellator 270 on Nov. 5 at the 3Arena in Dublin.

Patricio’s vacating of the lightweight belt comes more than two years after he claimed it from Michael Chandler with a 61-second TKO in May 2019 at Bellator 221 to become a simultaneous two-division champion. Patricio never defended the title because of his participation in the promotion’s featherweight grand prix, which was extended well beyond its timetable because of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The 16-man tournament concluded with Patricio losing his 145-pound title to A.J. McKee in the final on July 31 at Bellator 263, which snapped an overall seven-fight winning streak for “Pitbull.”

In a tweet after the announcement, Patricio said “it’s time for the (lightweight) division to move on” and for his brother, Patricky, “to have his shot.” He indicated that he remains focused on a rematch with McKee.

Honor and family come first. When I first won the LW belt it was just about revenge. It was still an honor, but with the loss at 145 I’m starting over. It’s time for the LW division to move on and for @PatrickyPitbull to have his shot. My focus is on AJ and him only. #TheMMAHour

— Patricio Pitbull (@PatricioPitbull) October 6, 2021

The rematch between Patricky and Queally (13-5-1 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) had been previously booked as the co-main event to Bellator Dublin, with James Gallagher vs. Patchy Mix headlining. Those bouts will now be swapped.