In just a few days, former Bellator
MMA two-division champion Patricio
Freire will realize his dream of stepping into the
UFC’s Octagon.
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“Pitbull” will face Yair
Rodriguez in a featured bout at UFC
314 at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Saturday night. In an
interview published on the UFC Fight Pass Brazil YouTube channel,
Freire shared insight into his camp and the game plan for his
Mexican foe.
“There is no fighter on the face of the Earth more motivated than
I,” Freire said. “I’ve trained since 1998 always having a white
belt mindset — I mean going to the academy every day to adjust
something. And that mentality helped me to beat all the records in
my former organization, and I won’t lose that golden opportunity to
get the UFC belt and put my name among the GOATS of the sport.”
While Freire is confident in his abilities, he acknowledged that
his UFC debut will be a difficult challenge.
“Yair is a complete fighter, an opponent that you can expect
anything. Even movements that you only see in the movies,” Freire
said.
However, the Brazilian has noticed a weak point in Rodriguez’s game
that was exposed by previous opponents.
“On the other hand, he is a fragile guy, and [Alexander]
Volkanovski and Frankie
Edgar broke him in that way,” Freire said. “Closing the
distance, not letting him get comfortable to kick, taking him down,
smashing him by being really violent in the ground-and-pound.
Basically, that’s part of my strategy.”
While Rodriguez will face pressure coming off back-to-back defeats
against Volkanovski and Brian
Ortega, Freire believes that could make him even more
unpredictable.
“He is coming from two straight defeats and that will put a bigger
pressure on his shoulders to not face a third one,” Freire said.
“Of course, it will make him more motivated, and that’s why I
trained so hard because I prepared for the best Yair. And he will
certainly face the best Patricio.”
Patricky
Freire confirmed to Sherdog.com that his brother is more
motivated than ever heading into his UFC debut.
“It´s been a long time since I’ve seen my brother so motivated. The
camp was perfect,” Patricky said. “He loves tough challenges, and
Yair is certainly a great one. In my opinion, he is even more
dangerous than Volkanovski and Diego [Lopes]. This guy is dangerous
until the last minute, as we could see against the ‘Korean Zombie.’
Patricio knows that, and that’s why he trained so hard. He is
definitely not planning to leave the result in judge’s hands.”
If all goes as planned for Patricio, he knows how he will maximize
his post-fight interview time.
“When I get Joe Rogan´s microphone, I´ll ask for the title shot. No
doubt about that,” he said.