Despite never fighting under the same banner, Patricio
Freire and John
Lineker are quite familiar with each other’s work.
Ahead of the second edition of the documentary by Combate titled
“Rivals,” Freire and Lineker met backstage. Both fighters spoke to
Sherdog about their meeting and what comes next for each fighter.
One
Championship contender Lineker plans on seeking out his old
title, while Bellator
MMA staple Freire is focused on recovery and looking toward
what’s next.
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“Here is a guy whom I respect the knockout power,” Freire said when
meeting Lineker. Surprised when “Pitbull” entered his dressing
room, Lineker happily welcomed the praise, with a warm embrace and
a reply of, “Hear that from you is more than a compliment.”
Combining for 90 total fights, while sharing 72 victories including
29 of those by knockout, Freire and Lineker are considered two of
the heavier hitters in their weight divisions. During their
encounter, Freire congratulated “Hands of Stone” for his two
consecutive wins over Jae Woong
Kim and Stephen
Loman, and asked when Lineker will fight for his old belt
against Fabricio
Andrade.
“I’m waiting for the rematch,” Lineker responded. “But this time I
will arrive in Asia 15 days before the fight just like I did
against Loman. Also, I hope they don’t make the third one in the
ring that favors his muay thai game. Fighting in the cage, arriving
15 days before and improving my head movement, I’m sure I can give
a totally different fight to him.”
. Lineker was quite aware of his countryman’s recent issue that
required surgery, and he asked Freire about just that. Freire
stated that spoke openly about his hernia surgery, revealing
details about his ailments, and sharing his return plans.
“I had two problems, a hernia and a nerve compression,” the
Bellator mainstay admitted. “In the surgery, my doctor had to open
some kind of tunnel and clean the back of the nerve, cutting out
the hernia. Just to give you an idea how much power I lost, I was
doing bench press with 5 kg [each side] in my last two camps and
now, after two months of the surgery, I’m doing with 20 kg each
side. That’s not even half my normal power [of 60 kg per side], but
I’m evolving each physiotherapy session and I hope to be returning
to the cage six months after the surgery with my full
potential.”
Ever the curious fighter – perhaps inquiring in case the two swam
in the same waters one day – Lineker asked the former Bellator
champ what his plans were going forward. According to “Pitbull,” he
intends to finish his contract and move on.
“I’m 36 years old, same age of ‘Poatan’ [Alex
Pereira]. I think it’s a good moment to test myself in [the]
UFC doing the fights the fans always wanted to see in my division.
But I also would love to make a rematch with Michael
Chandler in lightweight,” Freire concluded, sharing another hug
with Lineker before the two departed.