Patricio
Freire
sees much uncertainty when he peers into the future.
“Pitbull” will defend his undisputed
Bellator
MMA featherweight crown for the first time in almost 18 months
when he faces
Jeremy
Kennedy in the
Bellator 302 co-headliner this Friday at the SSE Arena in
Belfast, Northern Ireland. It serves as something of a re-launch
for the Bellator organization after it was acquired by the
Professional Fighters League in 2023. Freire casts a cautious
eye at the situation.
“Bellator had a full roster and so did the PFL, so as they merge,
we can expect things to be optimized,” he told Sherdog.com.
For his part, Freire—the most decorated competitor in Bellator
history—provides some stability in the middle of all the
instability. He ranks first on the company’s all-time list in
appearances (27), wins (22) and various other categories. Freire
has now been fighting professionally for more than two decades,
providing him with experience almost no one can match.
“I debuted in 2004,” he said. “I’ve been a professional for 20
years, although I’m only 36. Few fighters accomplish this much in
their careers fighting at a high level.”
Freire answers his latest challenge having lost back-to-back bouts
for the first time in his career. He dropped a five-round unanimous
decision to
Sergio
Pettis as a bantamweight at Bellator 297 in June, then found
himself on the receiving end of a vicious knockout from
Chihiro
Suzuki as a lightweight at a
Rizin Fighting Federation event on July 30.
“I always say, if you’re undefeated and you retire undefeated,
that’s good for you. Had you continued, a loss would have happened
eventually,” Freire said. “It’s no different with me. For all these
years, I did everything in my power to avoid that possibility, but
I don’t control the future. Unfortunately, I just had two losses.
One was in the weight class below. The other was in the weight
class above. Due to an accumulation of injuries and little time to
prepare, my performance was below the norm. I wasn’t able to absorb
strikes as usual. I wasn’t well.”
To that end, Freire underwent neck surgery a week after his loss to
Suzuki. The procedure appears to have been an unmitigated
success.
“I had a significant cervical hernia along with nerve compression,”
he said. “I wasn’t able to train properly. I had to make a
difficult decision. I had to choose between possibly never fighting
again or fighting in the condition I was in. I was forced to go
into surgery because I could barely live, much less train. I
couldn’t walk properly or even turn my head due to that same
disruptive pain. I was very limited. I took a risk [in having the
surgery]. I don’t regret it. Now I’m going back to working hard so
I can score more victories, keep my belt and continue breaking
records.”
Kennedy stands in his way. The 31-year-old
Xtreme Couture rep owns a 4-1 record in Bellator and enjoyed
previous stints in the PFL,
Ultimate Fighting Championship and
Brave Combat Federation. Kennedy has not fought since he took a
three-round unanimous decision from
Pedro
Carvalho on Feb. 25, 2023.
“I think he is the guy who really deserved to fight for the belt,”
Freire said. “He’s had great wins, but Jeremy is a guy who doesn’t
seem dangerous. He doesn’t really hurt his opponents. He finds ways
to win within the rules set. He likes to tie up his opponents.
We’ll be working on nullifying him from the very start. I guarantee
that the world title will remain in Brazil.”