PFL's Bellator purchase throws uncertainty into Jeremy Kennedy's title hopes

Jeremy Kennedy was hoping to be fighting for a Bellator title in 2023, but now he might not end up fighting for the belt at all.

The Bellator featherweight contender capped off a three-fight winning streak in February, defeating Pedro Carvalho in enemy territory at Bellator 291 in Dublin. Prior to that, he had gotten his hand raised against notable names in Aaron Pico and Emmanuel Sanchez.

Kennedy (19-3 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) was confident his run would put him up against Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Freire, but unfortunately it didn’t. “Pitbull” would fight Sergio Pettis in an attempt to capture a third title, but lost a unanimous decision in June. He would then take a short-notice fight in July against Chihiro Suzuki where he was knocked out and suffered an injury that would put him out until early 2024.

“Right after that last fight (against Carvalho), a title shot was lined up so we were just kind of waiting on ‘Pitbull’s timeline, and then he had a pretty funky year.” Kennedy told MMA Junkie Radio. “Going down and challenging at 135 and then the short-notice thing in Japan and how that went and then surgery.

“Then they had an interim thing scheduled for me for December and Viacom cancelled that card, so it was back to back constantly getting pushed back and here we are with the merger and still with uncertain when things will start up again.”

Unfortunately for Kennedy, PFL made their acquisition of Bellator official in November and thet announced that they were going to do champion vs. champion super fights in 2024. This meant Jesus Pinedo would fight ‘Pitbull’ and not Kennedy.

“Now ‘Pitbull’ is getting ready to come back, and I still thought that was what I was coming back to early in the year, but then they did the staredown and that kind of answered that question for me,” Kennedy said. “I think they hadn’t had everything set up yet, and they were just kind of excited and going for it, and that was an opportunity for them to square off these champions. Who knows if it’s all going to be in one card or if they’re going to spread it out. I’m not sure what’s happening.

“Until I see the official announcement, there’s still a little bit of hope. Maybe they’re planning a champion vs. champion thing, but that could be near the middle of the year or something like that and that might not be those guys facing off. At the time, that’s what they wanted. This is wishful thinking, but maybe I end up getting that fight earlier, winning the belt, and then I’m fighting Pinedo.”

The PFL-Bellator merger has brought a lot of uncertainty to Kennedy. He’s not happy with the way things have been going and the lack of clarity. Kennedy is hoping to get an answer soon. If he doesn’t get a title shot, he wants a big name in the meantime. What’s certain, is that he doesn’t have much interest in the tournament model and wants to be part of the matchmaking bouts.

“As far as the tournament goes, it’s tough because I’ve spent the last few years putting myself in this position just to go back into a tournament like that,” Kennedy said. “The activity is nice, but I feel like I’ve earned something big. It leaves me in a tough stop for sure. I’m not really keen on waiting. I’ve already waited this long. … For me, a long as it’s something big, either a title shot or a something big coming back, maybe even on that big pay-per-view champion vs. champion, if they want to put a couple of Bellator high ranked guys against some PFL names, that would be pretty cool.

“That would line myself up on a good timeline with ‘Pitbull.’ Every fight is a risk, but at this point I’m at my wits end on the waiting part.”