Patricio Freire sees Pitbull vs SBG rivalry continuing, calls out Conor McGregor again

Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire wants the rivalry between Pitbull Brothers and SBG Ireland to continue, and he has an idea in mind for its next chapter.

Freire, the current two-division champion under the Bellator banner, recently defended his featherweight championship in the quarterfinals of the featherweight Grand Prix against Pedro Carvalho at Bellator 252. Freire stopped Carvalho in the first round by knockout, which saw him advance to the semifinals as well as extend his win streak to six straight.

SBG Ireland head coach John Kavanagh took to Twitter shortly after the fight to address the defeat of his pupil and congratulate Freire and his team. Freire responded to the tweet with his own praise of Carvalho and expressed his desire to see the team versus team happen again, with a showdown between himself and former two-division UFC champion, Conor McGregor as a possibility.

“It’s the nature of the game,” wrote Freire. “The rivalry will continue through our fighters and everyone will grow from it. Best of luck against anyone who isn’t us. Pedro is strong. Now about that dream match you mentioned, [John Kavanagh]. I’m ready when you are [Conor McGregor].”

A cross-promotional fight between Freire and McGregor is unlikely at this time, but it does present an interesting matchup between two kingpins at 145 and 155 pounds.

This is not the first time Freire has called for a fight against McGregor. One of the main reasons he decided to fight Carvalho was because he could not “beat up” McGregor since he is under contract with the UFC, so he opted for the next best thing in a teammate.

In the meantime, both men have scheduled fights ahead of them in their respective promotions. For Freire, he will be meeting Emmanuel Sanchez for a second time in the semifinals of the featherweight Grand Prix. For McGregor, he will be making an appearance for the first time in over a year against a familiar opponent in Dustin Poirier at UFC 257.