Bellator featherweight champion Patricio
Freire can look back on 2022 as a year to remember.
Advertisement
After regaining the 145-pound belt in a rematch against A.J. McKee at
Bellator 277 in April, Freire successfully defended the crown
against Hungarian contender Adam Borics
at Belaltor 286 this past October. He’ll conclude his campaign with
a cross-promotional matchup against Rizin Fighting Federation
champion Kleber
Koike Erbst on New Year’s Eve.
„I screamed so loud about the importance of having cross promotion
challenges that someone on the other side of the world heard,”
Freire told Sherdog.com. “I truly hope this show promoted by
Bellator and Rizin is the first of many and serves as an example
for other organizations.”
Freire is well aware of the challenges his opponent presents. Erbst
has won his last seven bouts and sports a career mark of 31-5-1 —
with 27 triumphs coming by way of submission.
“Koike is very dangerous. Everybody who underestimated him got
choked out and I won’t make that mistake,” Freie said. “I studied
his fights a lot.”
Freire had a great first impression of Erbst at a launching
ceremony for the Bellator-Rizin event in October. “Pitbull” claims
he won’t be upset if his fellow Brazilian screams his “Vou Pegar”
catchphrase as he has against previous opponents. Loosely
translated, the phrase means “I’ll catch you” in English.
„I saw an interview he did with where he revealed that ‘Vou Pegar’
became a T-shirt brand in Japan, and that whenever he doesn’t
scream [the phrase], the Japanese fans complain to him,” Freire
said. “So I won’t be mad if he screams in the middle of our fight.
This is part of the show.”
The featherweight champion also disputed the pay figures released
from his Bellator 286 victory over Borics. According to salary
figures released by the California State Athletic Commission,
“Pitbull” earned $150,000 for that bout.
„Pure fake news. That was my purse back in 2012,” he said. “I
cannot talk about numbers, but I can guarantee for sure that today
I make more money per fight in Bellator than the UFC heavyweight
champion.”
Freire dismissed the possibility of going back to lightweight to
avenge his brother Patricky’s loss to Usman
Nurmagomedov in a 155-pound title fight earlier this year.
“I have no intention to go to the lightweight division like I did
when [Michael] Chandler defeated my brother. That was a totally
different contest, which is why Patricky is totally focused on
regaining the belt,” he said. “I really think Usman is technically
inferior to Patricky, even being 16-0. He is a skinny guy with
baby skin. If Patricky uses all we’ve trained, he would win [a
rematch].”
Freire believes that two other lightweight contenders, along with
his brother, could surprise Nurmagomedov if he enters the
lightweight grand prix.
“[Alexander] Shabliy, Tofiq [Musayev] and Patricky are better
fighters than Usman,” he said. “If he enters the grand prix and
faces any of them, he may lose the belt before the final. I
truly hope Khabib doesn’t protect him from entering the grand prix
and expect to fight the winner [at the end of the tournament].”