As he prepares to face A.J. McKee in
the quarterfinals of the Bellator lightweight grand prix, Patricky
Freire says he has learned from his championship loss to
Usman
Nurmagomedov this past November.
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“Never approach the fight based on what my opponent is going to do
and always impose my game,” Freire said. “Going forward, have
a better believe in myself and what I do. That’s what I’m
bringing from the fight against Usman to the fight against
McKee.”
Patricky revealed that the bad blood between McKee and his brother
was solved when they traveled to Japan to represent Bellator
against Rizin.
“Patricio explained to him some misunderstanding they had
because of a signature in a cartoon. My brother asked for his
signature in a magazine. He did the same with Patricio, and they
ended up taking a picture together,” Patricky said. “Our faceoff
was cool. As I said at the press conference, trash talk is not my
style. No matter what we say before, my focus will be the
same.”
Patricky has no trouble picking three of the four winners in the
155-pound tournament. But there is one fight where he is struggling
to predict a winner.
“This is one of the best lightweight tournaments ever, there are no
easy fights,” he said. “But I would point to myself, Nurmagomedov
and Mansour [Barnaoui] as favorites. The only fight I’m having a
hard time to pick is [Alexandr Shabliy vs. Tofiq
Musayev]. This will be pure fireworks. No doubt the best fight
in this phase of the tournament. If I really have to choose, I
think Shably will win since he is more complete, but it will be a
real war.”