Bellator MMA great Patricio Freire will be out of action for the foreseeable future.
Earlier in the week, Freire (35-7) volunteered for a short-notice fight against Chihiro Suzuki (11-3, 1 NC) at Super Rizin 2. The two agreed to the pairing with the same amount of notice, and agreed to square off at about 155 pounds. Just after the midpoint of Round 1, Suzuki toppled Freire with a ferocious right hand. The victory for the Japanese fighter immediately vaulted itself into consideration for one of the biggest upsets of the year, even one month removed from Freire’s loss at bantamweight to champ Sergio Pettis. Freire spoke to Sherdog shortly after the defeat, where he explained why he took the fight, and what he wants to do next.
Freire initially traveled to Japan to corner his brother, Patricky Freire, who won earlier that night. Freire talked about his sudden decision to take a fight, saying, “They invited me to a fight. In my vein runs the warrior’s blood. I never stopped training since the Pettis fight, but I was weighing 76kg (167.5 pounds). My nutritionist agreed that 70kg (154.3 pounds) would work well. Also, Suzuki is [a] featherweight but received a last-minute call [too], so it was even to everybody.”
The former two-division Bellator champ is currently riding the first losing streak of his career, as he had never before dropped two consecutive fights. Despite this, the 19-year veteran was quick to state there were no excuses for his loss.
“I have no excuses to give,” Freire stated plainly. “Me and Suzuki were called in the same day. The guy also absorbed a tough cross punch I got and caught me in the sequence. A fighter must accept defeat with [his] head raised [high].”
“Pitbull” continued, “Actually, it was a night of split emotions. My brother [beat] Satoshi [Roberto de Souza], who did a great fight against [A.J.] McKee, and many people thought he defeated A.J., and advanced in the Bellator GP semifinal. and unfortunately, I lost, but I’ll not get sad for that.”
During or shortly after the fight card, Freire informed Bellator that he was going to need to take some time off. As it turns out, he has major surgery scheduled next month, and it could keep him on the shelf for quite some time.
“That's the first time I'm talking about that,” Freire admitted. “I just told Bellator today about that decision [to take time off]. Actually, I’ve been postponing a back surgery for more than a year. I’m losing power in both arms. In that very moment, I [lost feeling in my] fingers. I faced an unbearable pain during [the entire training] camp [for] Pettis.
“Making sure it’s not an excuse. My focus now is 100% in that surgery that will be [performed] by one of the best spine doctors in the world, Marco Moscatelli, in the first week of August, where [he will repair] a cervical hernia and also relieve a [serious] compression in some [spinal] nerves. Now, that’s my main focus. But of course when I return, I’ll try my best to get these two rematches against Sergio Pettis and Chihiro Suzuki.”
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