Bellator featherweight Patricio “Pitbull” Freire believes that if he wins the Bellator featherweight grand prix, he will become the sports greatest featherweight.
“Pitbull” has already picked a win over Juan Archuleta in the 1st round of the tournament. He is now scheduled to fight Pedro Carvalho this Friday in the Bellator featherweight grand prix quarter-finals. The fight was picked by the Brazilian himself during the selection show, but in a recent interview with BJPENN.com Freire revealed that he picked it due of the date, not because of the opponent.
“I said I would take the latest date just before my fight. The option was between him and Caldwell because they were set for March,” Freire said. “Caldwell had two defeats to a flyweight just recently so out of everyone in the bracket, he was the least deserving contender. Pedro got lucky that he was at that date.”
This will be Carvalho’s first time in a 5-round fight, so Freire says he will be looking to push the pace against his opponent. He is confident that he is the better all-round fighter, regardless of where the fight takes place.
“This fight is like a river, it flows so I do whatever I feel is right. I don’t ever go into a fight thinking I need to take it down or just need to keep standing,” he said. “I do what I feel is best, I could strike him out or try and submit it. It depends on the flow of the fight. I don’t worry about what he presents to me. I know I’m better than him everywhere.”
Patricio Freire also says that he is confident that he’ll be able to stop Carvalho in their fight, although he is unsure whether it will be by submission or knockout:
“I’m still deciding how he will lose. He can try to hit me, but he won’t find me. When he thinks I am in a place I will be somewhere else. He thinks he has all the answers,” he explained. “But I’m going to give him several other questions and some that he has no idea how to solve. If I feel like taking him down and submitting him I’ll do it. If I feel like knocking him out, I’ll do it. I’m still thinking about the most satisfying way to finish him.”
The most important thing for Freire is to advance in the Bellator featherweight grand prix and eventually win it to become the greatest featherweight of all time:
“I think there should be no doubt about me being the best featherweight in the world and in history as well. I put my belt on the line and always defending my titles and I know Jose Aldo had several title defenses but he had pulled out of several fights. He took time off in between fights and lost his belt for a long time,” Freire concluded. “I think I’m the most active featherweight champion MMA have seen and I’m the one who has gone through risks. So, I think I should be no doubt after this tournament is over that I am the greatest featherweight of all-time.”
This article first appeared on CLOSEDGUARDMEDIA.com on 10th March, 2020.
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