Gallery Patricio Freire def. Daniel Weichel at Bellator 203: Best photos view 10 images

When news broke of the historic deal that allowed Demetrious Johnson and Ben Askren to be “traded” between their respective longtime promotions, some MMA players started getting ideas.

Two of those players were Bellator President Scott Coker, who sent out a pensive tweet, and Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Freire, who didn’t need more than four letters to express his intention when responding to the boss. (via Twitter)

If that seemed like a callout of former UFC champion Jose Aldo (27-4 MMA, 9-3 UFC), that’s because it was. But, unlike a lot of challenges of this nature in MMA, Freire (27-4 MMA, 15-4 BMMA) says this one in no way comes from a place of disrespect.

“He’s considered the greatest featherweight in history, and he defended his belt for many years,” Freire told MMAjunkie. “He went many years without losing, as well. But, if you look at it, our numbers are very similar. So it would be an interesting one to figure out, (between) two Brazilians.

“I really admire his work. He’s a humble guy. We’ve had the opportunity to talk a few times. He wasn’t disrespectful. I had no reason to disrespect him, either, quite the contrary. But I think we’re both professionals, and I think the sport of MMA would benefit from this fight happening.”

Freire is right in that their numbers are similar – eerily so. The fellow countrymen not only have the same number of professional MMA bouts, but the same amount of wins and losses, too. They even started their pro runs in the same year of 2004, just five months apart, and are almost the same age – “Pitbull” is 31, while Aldo is 32.

But despite competing all these years, and with high levels of success, the two never have crossed paths. Freire, on his end, kicked off his international career already in the Bellator cage, where he’s been since 2010. There, he won his first title in 2014 and went on to reclaim it just last year from the man who took it. “Pitbull” Freire is now set to defend it Friday at Bellator 209 in Israel, where he meets Emmanuel Sanchez in a headlining bout.

Aldo, in turn, started his career outside of Brazil with the now-defunct WEC, where he was first crowned champion in 2009. He migrated to the UFC already as featherweight champion and defended his belt seven times before Conor McGregor came along. Like Freire, Aldo would go on to reclaim his title but has since been dethroned by current champ Max Holloway.

When you look at it like that, one can see Freire’s point.

“It’s not about arrogance or trying to be bigger than anyone, it’s about fighting and figuring out, ‘So, who was the man at that time?’” Freire said. “If you look at the history book of MMA in Brazil and in the world, at that time, who were the two strong guys at 145? It was these two. Did they fight each other? No. So there’s a chapter of that story that wasn’t told. I think it’s a chapter missing in MMA history, especially in our division.

“It’s like if ‘Minotouro’ (Antonio Rogerio Nogueira) and ‘Shogun’ (Rua) hadn’t fought, you know? Like (Fabricio) Werdum and ‘Minotauro’ (Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira) not having fought. That’s what we’re missing, the way I see it.”

That amicability doesn’t mean Freire hasn’t entirely forgotten Aldo’s remarks about Bellator being the “B league,” which the former champion made during a rocky period with the UFC. Freire took umbrage then and still isn’t quite happy with them two years later.

He is, however, willing to give Aldo the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the nature of those comments.

“I don’t know how he really feels about Bellator, but to me that’s small thinking,” Freire said. “He should expand his horizons and know fighters don’t depend on promotions to be good or not. You can have a guy who’s superior than you where you least expect it. I resent a few of these poorly chosen words, but I understand.

“He has all that fame in Brazil and the world. He carries this status as the biggest featherweight of all time, and sometimes you don’t have the full picture of where other fighters really are. And what they mean, too. To me, this fight would be great.”

For now, Aldo remains signed under the UFC and Freire with Bellator, making a meeting between the two purely hypothetical and, to the more skeptical eyes, somewhat unlikely. But “Pitbull,” who’s long been a proponent of cross-overs between promotions, thinks there will come a time when these transactions will be possible.

“I think MMA should be like boxing, where you can unify belts and do fights between promotions,” Freire said. “Where they can come to agreements and promote this type of fight. It would be a lot better for the fans. It would be a big evolution for the promotions. They would make a lot more money. I believe, one day, they’ll get to something similar to that.”

In the meantime, starting Saturday, Freire gets to stay busy with the line of featherweights forming in his own backyard.

For more on Bellator 209, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.