DUBLIN – Pedro Carvalho is confident that beating Jeremy Kennedy will earn him a featherweight title shot.
Carvalho (13-6 MMA, 6-3 BMMA) meets Kennedy (18-3 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) in Saturday’s Bellator 291 co-main event at 3Arena. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
Currently ranked No. 3 in Bellator’s featherweight rankings, the SBG Ireland fighter hopes to get another opportunity at the belt, which is still held by reigning champion Patricio Freire, who knocked him out in their title fight in November 2020.
“Go out there, show that I’m the real No. 1,” Carvalho told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Bellator 291 media day on Thursday. “Show that I’m soon to be the champion and make a statement, leave no doubts. That’s it.”
He continued, “This is the No. 1 contender fight. I know that after I beat Jeremy Kennedy, I’ll be fighting for the belt.”
First, Carvalho needs to get past Kennedy, who’s riding some momentum with back-to-back wins over Emmanuel Sanchez and Aaron Pico. Carvalho acknowledges the UFC veteran’s skill set but thinks he possesses a similar style to Mads Burnell, whom he beat by unanimous decision in his past outing at Bellator 285.
“The main thing that I see in him is like he’s not flashy, he doesn’t have like highlight stuff, but he’s a consistent fighter,” Carvalho said. “You never see him fighting bad. He always fights good. He’s a consistent guy. On the other hand, I don’t see nothing that I haven’t seen before. He has nothing to bring that I never been through before on the mats on a daily basis and even in the fights.
“You can see overall his style of fighting is pretty much the same thing that happened in my last fight against Mads Burnell. A guy that likes to put others against the fence, he eventually tried to get the takedown and be happy to stay on top. If he gets a dominant position, then he’ll start to work the ground and pound. So I’ve been there so many times and stylistically, it’s a great matchup for me.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 291.
