Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Considers Match With Acelino Freitas in Boxing vs. MMA Bout

Count former Bellator MMA champ Patricio Freire among those that want to get in on the lucrative boxing vs. MMA phenomenon sweeping the sport.

Just like the fight between Logan Paul and Floyd Mayweather in the U.S., the fight between the retired boxer Acelino “Popo” Freitas and YouTube sensation Whindersson Nunes was a smash success in their home country of Brazil. In the co-headliner spot, MMA legend Antonio Rogerio Nogueira squared off with Leonardo Guimaraes in the ring. The crossover show at Fight Music Show on Jan. 30 in Santa Catarina, Brazil, drew a massive audience combined of MMA and boxing fans, so much so that the second edition is already in the works.

This fight card featured a 165-pound match pitting ex-WBA Unified and WBO super featherweight champ Nunes against 27-year-old YouTube comedian Nunes – the latter celebrates nearly 43 million followers – and the two fought to a draw after eight two-minute bouts. After the fight, Freitas, age 46, called out ex- Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo.

“In USA, it’s a huge success the challenges between MMA fighter and boxers in boxing rules,” Freitas explained in his post-fight interview. “Once we have one of the best here in Brazil let's make it happen. Aldo come to my ring!”

Not one to back down from a callout, Aldo immediately answered that he would be interested in facing “Popo” under hybrid rules, with a round of boxing and another in kickboxing. The former champ did not, however, believe that UFC head Dana White would allow that possibility. Freitas then extended his challenge to Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort, creating an instant stir in the MMA community and drawing debates between boxing and MMA fans as to who would win.

One Championship bantamweight champion Bibiano Fernandes was the first to raise his hand in an effort to draw interest and take on the boxing star.

“‘Popo,’ Belfort and Wanderlei are twice your size,” Fernandes said to Sherdog shortly before contracting COVID-19. “I’m the same weight and, unlike Aldo, I would love to face you in boxing rules. Where should I sign?”

On Monday, another Brazilian stepped up on behalf of Aldo, this time being Patricio Freire. Unlike Fernandes’ statement and Aldo’s counter-proposal, “Pitbull” was a little less respectful about it.

“I would accept to fight ‘Popo’ on his rules,” Freire stated. “But I got amazed by the amount of s--- he talked. He has the same size of me, on his prime he weighted around 135 [pounds]. Today, 46 years old, he must be weighing 160 [pounds]; how come he challenges two big guys like Wanderlei and Vitor, who [each] weigh around 210 pounds?”

Freire was disgusted about the callouts, feeling that they were not genuine and would never actually happen. Still, the talk may be for naught, as “Pitbull” has a full dance card with the recent announcement of his headliner spot at Bellator 277 opposite A.J. McKee in April. Freire is not quite certain he would be able to take the fight himself unless he was no longer part of the Bellator roster.

“Wanderlei could be a possible fight because he is not a boxer, but Belfort is a boxer,” Freire noted. “He would kill ‘Popo.’ There is no way this fight happens. I have a lot of respect for ‘Popo,’ he was a four-time world champion who is one of the greatest Brazilian sport idols, but if Bellator released me I would fight him. I train boxing with [the] Brazilian national team for almost 12 years and I’m also able [to] knock people out.”

Even though Freire is a Bellator mainstay, he cannot imagine a possibility where Freitas has not followed his career.

"My career in [the] USA is also promoted by Showtime, the company that promoted Floyd Mayweather for [a] long time. And don’t say you don’t know who I [am],” said “Pitbull,” who is committed to Bellator and is focused on his rematch with A.J. Mckee. “In that case I would have an enormous pleasure to get [on] a plane and go to your place and beat you up.”