Bellator MMA great Patricio
Freire will be out of action for the foreseeable future.
Earlier in the week, Freire (35-7) volunteered for a short-notice
fight against Chihiro
Suzuki (11-3, 1 NC) at Super
Rizin 2. The two agreed to the pairing with the same amount of
notice, and agreed to square off at about 155 pounds. Just after
the midpoint of Round 1, Suzuki toppled Freire with a ferocious
right hand. The victory for the Japanese fighter immediately
vaulted itself into consideration for one of the biggest upsets of
the year, even one month removed from Freire’s loss at bantamweight
to champ Sergio
Pettis. Freire spoke to Sherdog shortly after the defeat, where
he explained why he took the fight, and what he wants to do
next.
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Freire initially traveled to Japan to corner his brother, Patricky
Freire, who won earlier that night. Freire talked about his
sudden decision to take a fight, saying, “They invited me to a
fight. In my vein runs the warrior’s blood. I never stopped
training since the Pettis fight, but I was weighing 76kg (167.5
pounds). My nutritionist agreed that 70kg (154.3 pounds) would work
well. Also, Suzuki is [a] featherweight but received a last-minute
call [too], so it was even to everybody.”
The former two-division Bellator champ is currently riding the
first losing streak of his career, as he had never before dropped
two consecutive fights. Despite this, the 19-year veteran was quick
to state there were no excuses for his loss.
“I have no excuses to give,” Freire stated plainly. “Me and Suzuki
were called in the same day. The guy also absorbed a tough cross
punch I got and caught me in the sequence. A fighter must accept
defeat with [his] head raised [high].”
“Pitbull” continued, “Actually, it was a night of split emotions.
My brother [beat] Satoshi [Roberto de Souza], who did a great fight
against [A.J.] McKee, and many people thought he defeated A.J., and
advanced in the Bellator GP semifinal. and unfortunately, I lost,
but I’ll not get sad for that.”
During or shortly after the fight card, Freire informed Bellator
that he was going to need to take some time off. As it turns out,
he has major surgery scheduled next month, and it could keep him on
the shelf for quite some time.
“That’s the first time I’m talking about that,” Freire admitted. “I
just told Bellator today about that decision [to take time off].
Actually, I’ve been postponing a back surgery for more than a year.
I’m losing power in both arms. In that very moment, I [lost feeling
in my] fingers. I faced an unbearable pain during [the entire
training] camp [for] Pettis.
“Making sure it’s not an excuse. My focus now is 100% in that
surgery that will be [performed] by one of the best spine doctors
in the world, Marco Moscatelli, in the first week of August, where
[he will repair] a cervical hernia and also relieve a [serious]
compression in some [spinal] nerves. Now, that’s my main focus. But
of course when I return, I’ll try my best to get these two
rematches against Sergio
Pettis and Chihiro
Suzuki.”