Patricky Freire needs to get his career back on track, and he will have the chance to do it against a long-time MMA veteran.
“Pitbull” revealed to MMAFighting.com that he will return to the cage at Bellator 107, which takes place at WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Okla. on Nov. 8, against Strikeforce and EliteXC veteran James Edson Berto.
Berto (17-10-1) returns to Bellator eight months after his debut, when he scored an 87-second submission win over Bruno Carvalho. The win marked his return to the win column after back-to-back losses to Luis Palomino and Abel Trujillo.
Freire (10-5), a Bellator season four lightweight tournament finalist, has won only once over the last five bouts. He enters the bout riding a three-fight losing streak, including stoppage losses to Eddie Alvarez and Lloyd Woodard.
“He has some good ankle locks,” Freire told MMAFighting.com, “but I have a handful of training partners that has great leg locks and heel hooks, like Rousimar Palhares.”
Coming off a decision loss to undefeated Derek Anderson at Bellator 98, “Pitbull” wants to finish.
“I won’t let the fight go to the judges anymore,” he said. “I made some technical mistakes that could make the difference in my last fight. I will work hard in my jiu-jitsu so I won’t let that happen again. I will go for the kill.”
After going 9-1 in MMA, including devastating knockouts victories over Toby Imada and Rob McCullough, “Pitbull” hasn’t been the same since a decision loss to Michael Chandler in 2011.
“I don’t know what’s happening,” he said. “I’m doing great in training, but something is wrong. I will work harder to get back to the wins. I don’t think there’s something wrong, I believe I need to get more focused and go for the finish.”
Bellator 107 is headlined by the bantamweight tournament final between Joe Warren and Travis Marx.