Patricio
Freire sees a major chink in his upcoming opponent’s
armor.
Freire (37-8) is scheduled to fight fellow Bellator
MMA alum Aaron Pico
in a featherweight matchup at UFC 327
on April 11 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. While Freire
respects Pico’s overall skill set, he sees a major flaw in his
chin. Freire will look to exploit Pico’s chin and end the fight
with a single shot.
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“He has a lot of gifts as a fighter,” Freire told MMAjunkie.com. “But he has a fatal flaw, which
is: Whenever he gets hit with a hard shot, he goes down. So that’s
something that I’m hoping to exploit in our fight. But aside from
that, he is a great fighter.”
Three of Pico’s (13-5) five career losses have come via knockout.
The 29-year-old made his UFC debut as a highly touted training
partner of Khamzat
Chimaev last year. Pico faced Lerone
Murphy in a potential featherweight title eliminator at UFC 319
in August. Murphy knocked out Pico with a highlight reel spinning
backfist in the opening round.
Reacting to Defeat
Meanwhile, “Pitbull” suffered a lopsided decision loss in his
UFC debut against Yair
Rodriguez last year, but has since rebounded with a decision
win over Dan Ige. Freire
notes that Pico has historically been cautious while coming off a
loss. However, Freire believes Pico still has a point to prove in
the UFC, which is clearly leaning towards fan-friendly styles.
According to Freire, adapting a safe, grappling-heavy approach
could prove costly for Pico.
“In theory, every time he gets knocked out, he comes out more
cautious and uses more of his wrestling,” Freire said. “So he
doesn’t expose himself too much. But there’s a big factor here – in
UFC, they want you to be exciting. And he’s coming off a loss in a
title eliminator. He still has to impress. So if he comes here
trying to be cautious with his wrestling, people might not like it,
the UFC might not like it. And he’ll leave a bad
impression.”