Northern Irish fight fans will be treated to two World Championship contests on March 22nd, as Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire will put his Featherweight title on the line against Jeremy Kennedy.
The champion was originally set to compete for the first time this year back on the PFL vs Bellator CHAMPS card, initially against Jesus Pinedo, then Gabriel Alves Braga, before both opponents were ultimately pulled from the card.
Kennedy was set to face fan favourite James ‘The Strabanimal’ Gallagher in a number one Featherweight contender bout at SSE Arena. Gallagher will remain on the inaugural Champions Series card but will now face the well versed Leandro Higo at 145lbs.
Although entering the bout with back to back losses, the two matches happened as ‘Pitbull’ tried to create history by becoming a three weight division champion in a Bantamweight contest against Sergio Pettis, before partaking in the Super RIZIN 2 card against Chihiro Suzuki at 154lbs.
In what will be his 43rd professional contest, and 30th bout in the Bellator gloves, the 36-year-old will be keen to show that he is still at the top of the Featherweight division when he meets the number one contender Jeremy Kennedy.
Kennedy’s recent form has been extremely impressive, as the Canadian has collected some big scalps in his last three outings; albeit not being as active as he would like.
At Bellator 272, in December 2021, ‘JBC’ faced Emmanuel Sanchez and cruised to a comfortable 30-27, unanimous decision win. It was 10 months later before he was back in the cage, at Bellator 286 against Aaron Pico. The bout drew to an abrupt end at the end of the in between rounds one and two after Pico dislocated his shoulder and although many attempts were made to pop it back into place, the referee and cage side doctor called an end to the action. Kennedy’s last walk to the cage cage at Bellator 291 when he earned another unanimous decision victory against Pedro Carvalho.
‘The Strabanimal’ and Higo eventually get the chance to meet in the cage, having originally been slated to face each other one year ago. There was no love lost between the two heading into their Bellator 292 bout, of which Gallagher withdrew from for undisclosed reasons.
Since their original scheduled bout, both men have fought once and both secured wins, with Higo stopping Nikita Mikhailov in the second round when he cranked on a Guillotine. Gallagher went the distance in his Featherweight debut when he secured a split decision win against James Gonzalez.
There have also been an abundance of Brits added to the card with unbeaten prospects Steven Hill and Jordan Newman meeting in a Middleweight contest and ‘The Gent’, Luke Trainer returns to the Bellator cage for the first time in 12 months in a Light Heavyweight bout against a fellow surging Grant Neal.
The card now stands at 12 bouts, with two title fights and host of Irish and European talent set to feature:
Bellator Champions Series Belfast Main Card:
Light Heavyweight World Title Bout: Corey Anderson (17-6, 1 NC) vs. Karl Moore (12-2)
Featherweight World Title Bout: Patricio Pitbull (35-7) vs. Jeremy Kennedy (19-3)
Middleweight No. 1 Contender Bout: Fabian Edwards (12-3) vs. Aaron Jeffery (14-4)
Featherweight Main Card Bout: James Gallagher (12-2) vs. Leandro Higo (22-6)
Lightweight Main Card Bout: Tim Wilde (17-4-1) vs. Manoel Sousa (10-0)
Preliminary Card:
Bantamweight Preliminary Bout: Ciaran Clarke (8-0) vs. Darius Mafi (4-1)
Lightweight Preliminary Bout: Tofiq Musayev (21-5) Alfie Davis (16-4-1)
Middleweight Preliminary Bout: Steven Hill (7-0) vs. Jordan Newman (6-0)
Light Heavyweight Preliminary Bout: Luke Trainer (7-1) vs. Grant Neal (9-1)
Featherweight Preliminary Bout: Nathan Kelly (9-2) vs.Vikas Singh Ruhil (12-7)
Heavyweight Preliminary Bout: Abraham Bably (3-0) vs. Isaiah Pinson (3-0)
Amateur 130-Pound Catchweight Bout: Nate Kelly (2-2 AM.) vs. Jordan Elliott (2-3 AM.)
