Former Bellator MMA Lightweight Champion Michael Chandler is facing late replacement Brandon Girtz in the main event of Bellator 197.
Chandler recently claimed that the Pitbull Brothers (Patricky & Patricio) refused to fight him at the event, but Bellator MMA President Scott Coker claims the whole situation is just a big misunderstanding.
The misunderstanding from Coker’s point of view is that he didn’t want the Pitbull Brothers fighting in the same weight class.
“At the end of the day, we were not interested in putting two brothers in title contention in the same weight class,” Coker said on The MMA Hour. “That’s why we chose to not do it.”
Patricio Freire is the current Bellator MMA Lightweight Champion, while Patricky currently resides in the lightweight division. Chandler has fought Patricky twice before, defeating him at both Bellator 44 and Bellator 157, but he has never fought Patricio.
Bellator 197 takes place on Friday, April 13 from the Family Arena in St. Louis, Missouri with Michael Chandler and Brandon Girtz headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which airs live on the Paramount Network.
