Patricio Freire enters the Bellator cage tonight to fight for the tournament title for the third time in three years, but he’s a different man today.
At 1-1 in tournament finals, “Pitbull” (20-2) meets Justin Wilcox at Bellator 108 in Atlantic City, N.J., to earn another shot at the featherweight title. Coming off dominant wins over Fabricio Guerreiro, Diego Nunes and Jared Downing, the Brazilian vows to finish the Strikeforce veteran to get one step closer to his dream.
“He’s a very durable fighter and I believe it’s going to be a great fight for the fans because I’m going straight forward as soon as the fight starts,” Freire said. “I believe in the power of my hands. He’s durable, but he will go down.”
Freire’s only loss in his last seven Bellator fights happened in a title fight against Pat Curran, who recently lost his title to Daniel Strauss. “Pitbull” defeated Straus at the season four tournament final, on May 2011, and he believes he can do it again.
“I’m really confident going into this fight,” he said. “I know I have a tough opponent, but I will beat him and fight for the Bellator title again. That’s my goal and I know I have what it takes to do it. I train hard every day to become the champion and nobody will stop me this time.”
Bellator 108 is headlined by the catchweight bout between Quinton Jackson and Joey Beltran, and also features Alexander Volkov vs. Vitaly Minakov for the heavyweight title.