Patricky Freire insists that his brother, Patricio, is willing to relinquish his lightweight title for him.

Patricky (23-9 MMA, 14-7 BMMA) happens to be a contender in one of the divisions that dual champ Patricio currently rules, and he could find himself on the cusp of title contention if he gets past Peter Queally on May 7 at Bellator 258.

There’s only one man ranked above Freire in the new Bellator lightweight rankings, and that’s former champ Brent Primus, who Freire expects to face for the vacant title if he beats Queally.

“My brother has made it clear that he’ll only vacate the lightweight belt if I get my own title shot,” Freire told MMA Junkie in Portuguese. “Brent Primus may be ranked one step above me, but I feel I’m more deserving of his spot since I’m on a five-fight winning streak in the promotion. The fact that he’s a former champion seems to weigh in his favor. I believe that after my next win, I should face Primus for the vacant lightweight belt.”

Freire hasn’t competed since losing the Rizin lightweight grand prix final to Tofiq Musayev in December 2019. He was scheduled to face Jaleel Willis at Bellator 249 in October but pulled out because of labyrinthitis, an inner ear issue he’s dealt with in the past.

But despite the layoff, Freire expects to have the advantage over Queally everywhere and add another knockout win to his resume.

“I’ve been training hard, despite not having stepped into the cage for over a year,” Freire said. “I’ve increased the training intensity lately. I think for Peter Queally, it may be harder to come back since he broke a finger. It’s difficult to come back from that, to be able to fully trust your hands again. In my case, I never stopped training. Peter is very good at hitting and running. He’s not much of a jiu-jitsu or wrestling guy. He’s lacking in those techniques. He is capable of continually touching his opponents, and winning by points.

“But he’s not as good as Benson Henderson, who’s much more experienced and someone I’ve defeated. I feel Peter has several gaps in his ground game. It’s pretty weak. He at least has a good takedown defense and finds ways to survive on the ground. Striking is his best attribute. He doesn’t have great KO power, but he finds ways to make it difficult for his opponents. I expected to beat him by fighting in my own way – by moving forward and being aggressive. I expect another win by knockout.”