When is A.J. McKee vs. Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Friere 2 expected to take place?

A rivalry may be renewed this year, and with major title implications. Bellator featherweight champion A.J. McKee vs. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire 2 is being targeted for the spring.

Ariel Helwani reports Bellator officials are looking to schedule the fight in April. MMA Fighting is reporting that May is also a possibility.

McKee, 26, made his pro debut in 2015. The son of Antonio McKee slowly moved up the ladder within Bellator. He competed in the Bellator Featherweight Grand Prix starting in 2019, beating Georgi Karakhanyan, Derek Campos and Darrion Caldwell to make it to the final.

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Friere, who has been competing in MMA since 2004, joined Bellator in 2010. He immediately became a key figure for the promotion competing in several featherweight tournaments. He won the Bellator featherweight title in 2014 in a rematch against Pat Curran but lost it to Daniel Straus after three fights.

Friere earned a rematch against Straus in 2017, beating him for the title. He successfully defended the title five times. He won the Bellator lightweight title in 2019 against Michael Chandler. The 34-year-old beat Juan Archuleta, Pedro Carvalho and Emmanuel Sanchez in the Featherweight Grand Prix.

McKee and Friere met at Bellator 263 in July 2021 to finish the tournament. McKee submitted Friere in the first round to become champion and win the Grand Prix prize money.

Friere vacated the lightweight title, which now belongs to his brother, to focus on reclaiming the featherweight belt.