Patricio Freire is a late addition to this weekend’s Super Rizin 2 event, as the Bellator featherweight champion will face Japanese kickboxing specialist Chihiro Suzuki in a 154-pound catchweight affair.
The pairing was announced during a press conference late on Tuesday night. Super Rizin 2 is part of a joint event with Bellator, but in this case, both promotions will have separate cards under their respective rules. Freire vs. Suzuki will take place in a ring under Rizin rules.
Freire is making a quick turnaround following an unsuccessful foray to 135 pounds, where he dropped a five-round verdict to Sergio Pettis in a title bout at Bellator 297 on June 16. That snapped a three-bout winning streak for “Pitbull,” who was coming off successive victories over A.J. McKee, Adam Borics and Kleber Koike Erbst.
Suzuki owns a 10-3 record in MMA. He had been victorious in his last five appearances under the Rizin banner before suffering a submission loss to Kleber Koike Erbst at Rizin 43. Due to promotion rules, that bout was ruled a no contest on account of Erbst missing weight.
Super Rizin 2 taked place on Saturday at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, and is headlined by a featherweight title tilt pitting Mikuru Asakura against Vugar Karamov. In the co-main event, Juan Archuleta and Hiromasa Ougikubo will square off for bantamweight gold.
More must-reads: