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Patricky Freire is hunting for a finish against Jaleel Willis at Bellator 249. But, more than that, he’s hoping the Pitbull Bros and SBG Ireland get a chance to clash again.
A sudden opponent change hasn’t seemed to affect lightweight contender Patricky Freire much ahead of his planned next fight at Bellator 249. Now matched up against former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Jaleel Willis, ‘Pitbull’ still sounds like he expects to put on a show on October 15.
Once paired up against SBG Ireland’s Peter Queally for a fight on October 3rd in Ireland, Freire saw that bout fall through—a result of the entire card getting cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, the Brazilian tells Bloody Elbow he still hopes that one day his gym, Pitbull Brothers, will take on Dublin’s most notable MMA camp.
In fact, the last time Patricky spoke with Bloody Elbow, he mentioned having a surprise ready for former UFC double-champ Conor McGregor. That secret, Patricky intends to keep to himself, just in case Bellator books another Ireland card in the near future.
“It was a little sad, but I get it,” Freire said of his cancelled bout against Queally. “The thrill would not have been the same without the Irish crowd cheering against me in the arena. The whole world has changed, so there is not much you can do. The fight was going to happen in Italy, but it was not the same thrill. Then the government wouldn’t let Brazilians in and Queally got injured, so Bellator had to find me a new opponent in the United States.”
“I don’t know for how long he’ll be out, and there are some new fighters in the company already calling me out.” Patricky continued. “I had a fully developed game-plan and I was feeling great. I’m sure I would have won that fight. Now I’m focused on what’s ahead of me. I’m glad I have another opponent and a new date. I’m ready for another win. About that surprise for Conor McGregor. I’ll leave it for the next time Bellator decides to make a card in Ireland, once this pandemic is over. Then we can do the Pitbull Brothers vs. SBG challenge. Then I’ll do it.”
With a fight against Willis on deck, however, the lightweight top contender expects to finish the fight in dominant fashion and send a message to his division. Although he feels his opponent has a very risk-averse style, Freire vows to do anything in his power to end the contest before all three rounds are up.
“I had a great camp. I needed to make some adjustments because up until a few weeks ago, my opponent was Queally. But we watched his fights, he likes to kick with both legs, he has nice hands and good takedowns,” Pitbull explained. “I believe he’ll try to grapple me. He doesn’t strike me like the kind of guy who takes risks. He tries to play it safe. When he strikes, he always waits for his opponent to do something. I’ll be ready for anything, but my goal is to finish him. I don’t like leaving in the hands of the judges. You never know what they might think and they’ve dropped the ball with me a few times before.”
In his last outing, Patricky Freire (23-9) dropped a unanimous decision to Tofiq Musayev in the Rizin lightweight Grand Prix final, on New Year’s Eve. He made it to the finals with a victory over Luiz Gustavo that same night, in the semi-final round, as well as a win over Tatsuya Kawajiri back in October in the Grand Prix opener.
This Thursday’s Bellator event is scheduled to be headlined by a female featherweight title fight between champion Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino and challenger Arlene Blencowe. Freire vs. Willis is set for the co-main event.