According to [autotag]Patricky Freire[/autotag]’s coach, “Pitbull” had to mask a broken hand going into the lightweight grand prix final at Rizin FF 20.
A perfectly-placed soccer kick against Luiz Gustavo, landed Freire a spot in the grand prix final, but although it took him only 28 seconds to score the finish, Freire’s coach Eric Albarracin says “Pitbull” suffered a broken hand in the fight.
He took on [autotag]Tofiq Musaev[/autotag] in the final later in the night, but lost the fight via unanimous decision where, according to his coach, Freire had to battle for 15 minutes with a broken hand.
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“People don’t know… Patricky broke his hand in that first fight on the semis and went into the second fight with a broken hand,” Albarracin revealed via his Instagram story. “We made sure not to take the bandage off so it would swell up so we kept the bandages on, we kept his wraps on and he fought with a broken hand and put it all on the line. He put it all out there.”
It was an entertaining back-and-forth scrap, but ultimately Musaev got the nod, going on to win the lightweight grand prix.
Hoping to follow in his brother – and reigning two-division Bellator champ – Patricio’s footsteps, Patricky may have fallen short, but Albarracin is confident that one day the other “Pitbull” brother will be world champion, too.
“I thought we won, I thought we were going to get the nod but never leave it in the hands of the judges. Good job to Tofiq, he went out there and did what had to do to win but, you know, it’s not over. 2019 might be over but it ain’t over for our destiny. Patricky Pitbull will be a world champion one day.”
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