Tag: Patricio Freire

Jesus Pinedo out of bout against Patricio Freire at PFL vs. Bellator: Champions

Jesus Pinedo has withdrawn from the PFL vs. Bellator champions card.

[autotag]Jesus Pinedo[/autotag] will not compete next week in the PFL vs. Bellator: Champions event.

The 2023 PFL featherweight champion has withdrawn from the card due to undisclosed reasons, and his bout against [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] has been removed from the event, which is scheduled to go down on Feb. 24 in Saudi Arabia. “Pitbull” won’t be getting a replacement opponent.

The news was announced by PFL on Saturday morning.

Pinedo (23-6-1), a former UFC fighter, was looking to continue his impressive run. He pulled off one of the biggest surprises in PFL history. The Peruvian stopped Brendan Loughnane, Bubba Jenkins, and Gabriel Braga en route to winning the 2023 PFL featherweight title. He’s currently 7-1 in his past eight fights. Pinedo’s only loss during that stretch came against Braga, which he later avenged.

Freire (35-7), on the other hand, was looking to put a bad stretch behind him with this return. In 2023, he went 0-2 before getting sidelined due to injury. The Brazilian lost to Sergio Pettis in June in an attempt to capture the Bellator bantamweight title and become the first fighter to win titles in three weight classes, and was knocked out by Chihiro Suzuki in a big upset at a Rizin event in Japan.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL vs. Bellator.

Bellator champion Patricio Freire not interested in PFL’s season format: ‘This doesn’t make sense for me’

Patricio Freire is not down to compete in PFL’s season format.

The PFL’s season tournament is not something that sparks [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag]’s interest.

The Bellator featherweight champion has no intention to compete in the season tournament now that PFL acquired Bellator and merged rosters. Freire is no stranger to competing in similar types of formats, having fought in Bellator’s grand prix, but it’s PFL’s point system in the playoffs that puts off “Pitbull.”

“I don’t like PFL’s tournament format,” Freire told MMA Junkie. “This whole thing about the points, you can fight the former champion and win by decision and have a very tough fight, but win by decision, and then another guy gets a scrub and knocks him out in the first round, and he moves into the playoffs and you don’t. There’s not much merit this way. In my mind, I’m still a Bellator fighter and a champion, so I want to defend my belt.”

Unlike Bellator, PFL has a two-fight season with a point system based on how quickly a fighter can get a win. It’s more complicated than just elimination bouts. Technically, two decision wins can leave a fighter out of the playoffs, depending on other results. This is not something that Freire likes.

“Since I like fighting for titles, and I’m in that position, imagine I go into a tournament, win all my fights, but still not make it to the playoffs and no longer be a champion,” Freire said. “This doesn’t make sense for me.”

Freire hopes to continue defending his Bellator featherweight title in PFL’s one-off events – pay-per-views and the eight planned Bellator shows.

The Brazilian returns to the cage on Feb. 24 at the PFL vs. Bellator champions card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He takes on Jesus Pinedo, who won the 2023 PFL season, in a non-title bout.

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Video: Which side has the edge in the upcoming PFL vs. Bellator: Champions event?

Our “Spinning Back Clique” debates if PFL or Bellator has an advantage, and the potential for a complete sweep.

Next month, the best of the best in PFL and Bellator will travel across the globe for a unique event.

On Feb. 24 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the PFL vs. Bellator: Champions event goes down, and it places champs from both promotions against one another. The top four fights on the card will be champion vs. champion bouts, all three rounds, with no title on the line.

This event will give us [autotag]Renan Ferreria[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag], [autotag]Impa Kasanganay[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Johnny Eblen[/autotag], [autotag]Ray Cooper III[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Jason Jackson[/autotag], [autotag]Jesus Pinedo[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] and other PFL vs. Bellator matchups.

Should either promotion bring a broom for the clean sweep, or will both sides pick up victories?

Our “Spinning Back Clique” of Mike Bohn, Matthew Wells and Brian “Goze” Garcia discussed the matchups with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia.

You can watch their discussion in the video above, and check out this week’s episode below on YouTube or in podcast form.

Video: PFL vs. Bellator press conference faceoffs

Check out the faceoffs from the first press conference ahead of the inaugural PFL vs. Bellator event in South Florida.

The first PFL vs. Bellator press conference took place Wednesday, and afterward the fighters in attendance came face to face for the first time.

The first PFL vs. Bellator event since the acquisition takes place Feb. 24 at Boulevard Hall in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with a main card that streams on ESPN+ and DAZN pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN+ and ESPNews. The entire card pits PFL fighters vs. Bellator fighters and is chalk full of current and former champions from each promotion.

In the main event, reigning PFL heavyweight champ [autotag]Renan Ferreira[/autotag] takes on Bellator heavyweight champ [autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag]. The co-main event pits PFL light heavyweight champ [autotag]Impa Kasanganay[/autotag] moving back down to middleweight to face Bellator 185-pound champ [autotag]Johnny Eblen[/autotag]. A showdown between current featherweight champions, [autotag]Jesus Pinedo[/autotag] from the PFL and [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] of Bellator, is also on tap.

In addition to the fights between current champions, a host of matchups between former champs and title challengers are also slated.

You can watch all of the faceoffs from the first PFL vs. Bellator press conference at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Fla., in the video above.

Below is the complete PFL vs. Bellator lineup:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 3 p.m. ET)

  • Renan Ferreira vs. Ryan Bader
  • Impa Kasanganay vs. Johnny Eblen
  • Ray Cooper III vs. Jason Jackson
  • Jesus Pinedo vs. Patricio Freire
  • Bruno Cappelozza vs. Vadim Nemkov
  • Thiago Santos vs. Yoel Romero
  • Clay Collard vs. A.J. McKee

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, ESPNews, 12:30 p.m. ET)

  • Gabriel Braga vs. Aaron Pico
  • Biaggio Ali Walsh vs. Chris Morris
  • Claressa Shields vs. Kelsey De Santis
  • Abdullah Al-Qahtani vs. Edukondal Rao
  • Malik Basahel vs. Vinicius Pereira

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL vs. Bellator.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC, PFL, Bellator fights announced in the past week (Jan. 15-21)

Check out the UFC, PFL, and Bellator fights that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC, PFL, and Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Jan. 15-21.

24 fights on our 2024 MMA wish list: Francis Ngannou vs. Jon Jones (still), Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 3, more

Here’s MMA Junkie’s 24-fight wishlist for the new year.

2023 didn’t disappoint in terms of great MMA action, and 2024 looks just as promising, if not more.

With 2024 underway, there’s a new year of fresh possibilities for dream matchups across the MMA landscape, from the UFC to Bellator, PFL, RIZIN FF, ONE Championship and more.

For 2023, unfortunately, only four of the 23 dream fights MMA Junkie wished for came to fruition. We’re not deterred, however, and are back with another slate of 24 matchups we aspire to see in 2024.

Below, we present MMA Junkie’s wish list of 24 fights we’d like to see in 2024.

Video: Which 2024 PFL matchup is most intriguing?

PFL has a few interesting matchups ahead in 2024, but which one are we looking forward to the most?

The PFL is going big early in 2024 with an event that will see its champions take on Bellator’s titleholders.

The champion vs. champion event is expected to take place in Q1 2024, with a date and venue to be determined soon. The premise is interesting because it does answer a question that often arises in conversation: Which promotion has the best champion?

We get to answer that question next year between PFL and Bellator, but which matchup is the most intriguing?

[autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Jesus Pinedo[/autotag], [autotag]Vadim Nemkov[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Impa Kasanganay[/autotag], and [autotag]Cris Cyborg[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Larissa Pacheco[/autotag] are all possibilities for the event. But the matchups don’t stop there. There’s more fights to be made between the two rosters, and other PFL bouts to be made, including [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag]’s return.

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Our “Spinning Back Clique” of panelists Mike Bohn, Danny Segura and Brian Garcia and host George Garcia discuss which potential fight for 2024 excites them the most.

Watch the video above to see the discussion, or check out the entire episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube or in podcast form.

Bellator champ Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire encouraged about potential from PFL purchase

Arguably the best fighter in Bellator history, Patricio Freire has seen it all in the promotion.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Arguably the best fighter in Bellator history, [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] has seen it all in the promotion.

“Pitbull” Freire debuted for Bellator in 2010 when the promotion was in its infancy running a season format. He was the first simultaneous two-division champion in Bellator history (featherweight, lightweight) and is the current 145-pound champion.

But along with the rest of Bellator’s robust roster, he’s been enduring some uncertainty about the promotion’s future. This past week, it was announced the PFL purchased Bellator, and champion-vs.-champion fights have been promised for 2024.

Freire was cageside to see Jesus Pinedo pick up a TKO win over Gabriel Braga on Friday to win the PFL’s 2023 featherweight season and $1 million. Now, presumably, he’ll fight “Pitbull” next. Freire was brought into the cage to for a faceoff with Pinedo after the win.

“(His performance) was great,” Freire told MMA Junkie backstage at The Anthem in Washington, D.C., moments after Pinedo’s win. “… I’m going to face a new opponent, and he’s good. It will be a great (fight for) me. … He was trying to bark louder than me (in the faceoff), but he’s not going to be able to do that (in the fight).”

Freire said he had mixed emotions about the PFL’s purchase of Bellator. After all, it’s the end of one era in the sport’s short history, and he was on board for the vast majority of it.

At 35, Freire likely still has plenty of time left in the sport, and now he’s setting his sights on a PFL belt.

“(I was) a little bit sad, a little bit happy – everything,” Freire said. “Let’s see what’s going to happen. I’m here. I believe the good point is we’re going to make history. We’re going to make a lot of crossover (MMA history), that I was asking for all the time. I fought against the Rizin champion and I beat him. Now I have the chance to fight against the PFL champ, so it’s a good thing.”

Freie currently is without a victory since New Year’s Eve 2022 in Japan in that aforementioned Rizin win over Kleber Koike Erbst. In June, he dropped to bantamweight to challenge Sergio Pettis for the title, but lost a split decision. Six weeks later, he was knocked out by Chihiro Suzuki in a Rizin crossover fight in Japan, which gave him the first skid of his career.

He’s on the mend from an arm injury, but said he’s got the go-ahead to get back to work and anticipates a fight against Pinedo in the first few months of 2024.

“I talked to (PFL owner) Donn Davis, and he was very happy,” Freire said. “Me too. I was very happy (with our conversation). His words made me feel good and comfortable, and I believe it’s going to be a great relationship.

“I have three months of recovery so far. I still don’t have the full strength in my left arm, but I’m getting better every day, so from here to the day I’m going to be fighting, I’m going to be 100 percent. The doctor said, ‘Hey, you are 100 percent recovered. Go ahead – go do your job.'”

Bellator champion Patricio ‘Pitbull’ undergoes spine surgery, out until 2024

For the first time in his 42-fight career, Patricio Freire is on a two-fight skid – but he thinks he’s figured out at least one problem.

Fans of [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] won’t see “Pitbull” back in the cage until 2024.

In a press release Tuesday distributed by his team, it was announced Freire (35-7) underwent surgery on his cervical spine Monday to repair a herniated C6/C7 disc. The hour-long procedure took place at Hospital São Lucas in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, and was successful.

The expected recovery time for the current Bellator featherweight champion will be six months, knocking him out of competition until at least March 2024.

In June, Freire lost a bantamweight title bid by decision vs. Sergio Pettis (23-5). Less than two months later, he returned under the RIZIN banner for a last-minute lightweight booking against Chihiro Suzuki (11-3). In a shocking upset, Freire was knocked out by Suzuki in under three minutes.

According to Freire, the issue with his spine caused severe pain in his neck and weakness in his arms. The latter of the two issues Freire pointed to as a reason why he is currently on the first two-fight losing skid of his career.

“I had been feeling this compression when I received the blows in fights, and I had been feeling numbness and weakness in my arms and legs,” Freire said, in Portuguese. “I avoided this surgery because once you’ve done it, there’s no going back and there were risks involved, like not fighting again. I ended up being too conservative and paid the price. I had never lost two fights in a row and had never been knocked out in 19 years as a pro. My only way out was to have the surgery.”

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Freire will eagerly await his opportunity to return to competition as he lets his body heal from the procedure. Once he’s back, Freire vows to take on all comers.

“Thanks to God and the training of the medical team, the problem was corrected and I’m sure I’ll come back stronger to defend my belt and have a rematch against Pettis for the bantamweight title and another against the Japanese Chihiro Suzuki in a defense of my title of Bellator’s feathers,” Freire said.

Patricio Freire claims Kleber Koike invaded locker room, attacked brother Patricky at Bellator x Rizin 2

Patricio Freire says former rival Kleber Koike attacked his brother Patricky at Bellator x Rizin 2.

It seems [autotag]Kleber Koike Erbst[/autotag] and the “Pitbull” brothers got into an altercation at Bellator x Rizin 2 in Japan.

According to [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag], Koike argued with his brother, [autotag]Patricky Freire[/autotag], after Patricky defeated Koike’s teammate, Roberto de Souza, by TKO at Saturday’s Bellator x Rizin 2 at Saitama Super Arena near Tokyo.

Patricio alleged Koike also celebrated Patricio’s shocking KO loss to Chihiro Suzuki, then after the event, Koike invaded their locker room to kick Patricky from behind and run off.

Patricio and Koike have history. The two fought at the first Bellator x Rizin event back this past December in a non-title bout. Patricio defeated his fellow Brazilian by unanimous decision. That’s his most recent victory. He now has back-to-back defeats for the first time in his MMA career.

Patricio entered Bellator x Rizin 2 off a decision loss to Sergio Pettis in an attempt to capture the bantamweight title and become the first three-division Bellator champion. The 36-year-old made no excuses for his first-round KO defeat to Suzuki and made it clear he’ll bounce back.

You can watch Patricio’s KO loss in the video below:

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