Patricio
Freire is a late addition to this weekend’s Super
Rizin 2 event, as the Bellator featherweight champion will face
Japanese kickboxing specialist Chihiro
Suzuki in a 154-pound catchweight affair.
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The pairing was announced during a press conference late on Tuesday
night. Super Rizin 2 is part of a joint event with Bellator, but in
this case, both promotions will have separate cards under their
respective rules. Freire vs. Suzuki will take place in a ring under
Rizin rules.
Freire is making a quick turnaround following an unsuccessful foray
to 135 pounds, where he dropped a five-round verdict to Sergio
Pettis in a title bout at Bellator 297 on June 16. That snapped
a three-bout winning streak for “Pitbull,” who was coming off
successive victories over A.J. McKee,
Adam
Borics and Kleber
Koike Erbst.
Suzuki owns a 10-3 record in MMA. He had been victorious in his
last five appearances under the Rizin banner before suffering a
submission loss to Kleber
Koike Erbst at Rizin 43. Due to promotion rules, that bout was
ruled a no contest on account of Erbst missing weight.
Super Rizin 2 taked place on Saturday at Saitama Super Arena in
Saitama, Japan, and is headlined by a featherweight title tilt
pitting Mikuru
Asakura against Vugar
Karamov. In the co-main event, Juan
Archuleta and Hiromasa
Ougikubo will square off for bantamweight gold.