A little less than two weeks removed from the loss to Usman
Nurmagomedov that cost him the Bellator lightweight crown,
Patricky
Freire has come to the conclusion that he overestimated his
opponent.
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“After watching the fight a couple of times, I have no doubt that
my mistake was giving too much respect to his name,” Freire told
Sherdog.com. “I was so concerned about exposing myself to the
takedown that I didn’t impose my game. I should have fought all
rounds like I did in the fifth.”
Freire ultimately dropped a five-round verdict to the cousin of
Khabib
Nurmagomedov at Bellator 288 on Nov. 18. In hindsight,
“Pitbull” believes he faced a more difficult test in camp than he
did on fight night.
“There is no way to compare his wrestling skills to my main
sparring partner in the camp, Kennedy Monday,” Freire said.
“Besides being more explosive, Monday was much more technical than
Usman in wrestling, and he is taller. I truly hope Usman enters in
the lightweight grand prix. I can’t wait to have my revenge.”
“Pitbull” is now in the process of recovering from a pelvis injury
that hindered him for the past three months, and he plans to begin
training hard for the lightweight grand prix in January. If
Nurmagomedov enters the tournament, Freire hopes his former foe is
on the same side of the bracket as him.
“Tofiq
Musayev and Alexander Shabliy are tougher and more complete
than him. If he faces one of them before [me], I´ll probably not
have my revenge next year,” Freire said.
Freire revealed that he met with Musayev before the fight, and the
Azerbaijan native gave him a few tips on how to beat his former
training partner.
“They already trained together, but looks like something happened
and they don’t have a good relationship anymore since Musayev told
me: ‘This family (Nurmagomedov) cannot dominate the sport,’” Freire
said.