Patricio Pitbull, despite having his fight in Saudi Arabia cancelled, sparred with twins Idris and Chingis Idrisov and later agreed to defend his Bellator title at Bellator Champions Series Belfast.
Patricio Pitbull had a wild ride in Saudi Arabia last February. He was all set to face Jesus Pinedo in a champ vs. champ clash at the PFL vs. Bellator card on Feb. 24. But, plot twist! Gabriel Braga stepped in for an injured Pinedo. Then, in a twist of fate, Braga backed out just before the weigh-ins. Pitbull was left without an opponent.
But, did that stop Pitbull? Nah. He said he “completed the mission” in Saudi Arabia, even without an official fight. He jetted back to Brazil the morning after the event.
So, what did he do in Saudi Arabia? “We went to the warm-up room at the hotel, and did five rounds of sparring there,” Pitbull spilled the beans on MMA Fighting’s Trocação Franca podcast. “We followed the schedule as if we were fighting. There was no real fight, but I went there and sparred the twins that Eric Albarracin brought form Kazakhstan [Idris and Chingis Idrisov].”
Later, Pitbull agreed to defend his Bellator title at Bellator Champions Series Belfast. That’s happening this Friday, folks.
Pitbull had cut weight for his cancelled fight in Saudi Arabia. But, he wasn’t worried about going down to 145 pounds a second time in four weeks. Why? ‘Cause he kept his weight low. He decided to spar in Saudi Arabia to reset his mind after the match was cancelled.
“[I wanted to] reach the goal that was programmed to happen,” Pitbull said. “We know that a fight cancellation is frustrating to anyone, but we have to keep the body awake for the goal that was planned. When we went down and did five rounds of MMA there, it was fire. Those who witnessed the training know it was no joke.”
The Bellator featherweight champion revealed that the company “wasn’t contractually obligated” to pay him after the contest was canceled. But, he was reimbursed for his camp and time lost.
This Friday, Pitbull is putting his belt on the line for the first time since October 2022. He beat Adam Borics via decision then. After that, he went to Japan to defeat then-RIZIN champion Kleber Koike in a non-title affair. However, he lost to Sergio Pettis for the Bellator flyweight belt and against Chihiro Suzuki in a short-notice lightweight contest for RIZIN.
Jeremy Kennedy, a UFC and PFL veteran, has won four of five since joining Bellator in 2020. He’s challenging for gold after three straight victories in bouts against Emmanuel Sanchez, Aaron Pico, and Pedro Carvalho.
“I don’t see Jeremy Kennedy as that dangerous guy that will hurt you,” Pitbull said. “He will dominate, he will stall. If you don’t have a good strategy to get away from it, it’s going to be time lost and work thrown away. We’ve worked hard on those takedowns and his type of game. He can keep pressure the entire time, but we’re ready to frustrate him since the first minute of the fight until the end so it backfires for him.”