Bellator 221 will feature a lightweight world title bout that has been in the making since Bellator held their last “Dynamite” event in June of 2016. Michael Chandler finished Patricky Freire, the brother of his opponent this weekend and since that moment; Patricio “Pitbull” Freire has had Chandler in his crosshairs. At a very tense press conference for the event, the current featherweight champion and lightweight champion weighed in on who is looking at this as business and who is taking things personally.
The question was posed today to both men and Freire said, “It’s personal.” He added, “Everyone is talking about ‘champ-champ’, I don’t think about that. I only think about beating him.” Chandler countered with, “It’s not personal for me. I haven’t lost one bit of sleep thinking about Patricio Pitbull.” For Chandler, “this is just a job, this is just a competition, this is about me going out there and doing what I do and I’ve done it very well.”
Chandler sees himself earning another notch on his belt Saturday night at Bellator 221 but thinks Patricky is a lot more professional than Patricio. Having only knocked out the one brother might do that to the one he has yet to face but Chandler thinks Patricky handled himself better leading up to their fights. Chandler said he looks to put the younger brother in his place. Freire’s response to that was, “Don’t worry, after the fight, I will be nice with you.”
Along with the lightweight world title bout, the semifinal Welterweight world Grand Prix match between Douglas Lima and Michael “Venom” Page serves as the co-main event along with Jake Hager’s (Jack Swagger) second pro MMA fight against 1-1 T.J. Jones. Bellator 221 seems to be stacking their cards as they get set to head to Madison Square Garden in June for Bellator 222.
Who do you think wins the main event at Bellator 221?
