Tag: Patricio Freire

Scott Coker Thought Patricio Freire Would Fight Darrion Caldwell

Bellator’s featherweight grand prix continued this past weekend. However, a choice in the selection show afterward left Scott Coker a bit puzzled. Bellator 228 on Saturday saw champion Patricio Freire, AJ McKee, Darrion Caldwell and Daniel Weichel advance to the quarterfinals. After Freire’s win over Juan Archuleta, there was a selection show that took place. […]

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Bellator’s featherweight grand prix continued this past weekend. However, a choice in the selection show afterward left Scott Coker a bit puzzled.

Bellator 228 on Saturday saw champion Patricio Freire, AJ McKee, Darrion Caldwell and Daniel Weichel advance to the quarterfinals. After Freire’s win over Juan Archuleta, there was a selection show that took place.

Seven of the remaining featherweights chose lots to determine who could pick their next opponent and fight date. Caldwell chose to fight in March and called out Freire. Pedro Carvalho later chose to face Caldwell in March.

However, being the champion, Freire had the “champ’s choice” to override any previous decision and pick who he wanted. Rather than respond to Caldwell’s callout, he opted to face Carvalho in March. Coker, meanwhile, was hoping “Pitbull” faced Caldwell.

“For me personally, I think that there’s some fighters that I thought were interesting, but I was hoping for a different fight at the very end,” Coker said in the post-event press conference (via MMA Fighting). “But I think he [Pitbull] picked who he wanted to fight and he’s the champ and he gets to do what he wants to do. But I tell ya, there’s some fights that I really look forward to in that tournament, so I think we’re going to have a great, great tournament on our hands.”

As for why Coker wanted that fight, it would have simply been more intriguing, especially with Caldwell’s trash talk of Freire:

“My only thought was I thought when ‘Pitbull’ had the shot, I thought he was going to fight DC [Caldwell],” Coker added. “I thought he wanted him really bad. But you know, it went the other way, so now we have some interesting fights on both sides and if you keep winning, you’ll fight each other anyway at the end, so it’s going to be fine.”

The selection show as a whole was a new concept and one Coker thought was a success overall:

“I liked it,” Coker said. “I thought it was great. It’s something that I’ll go back and look at the footage and talk to the guys but honestly I think it was a fun way to present the tournament and pick the tournament. It was a random draw but there was a little twist at the end so I liked it and we’ll see what happens.“

What did you think of the selection show? And Pitbull choosing Carvalho rather than Caldwell?

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Bellator 228 Results: Patricio Freire vs. Juan Archuleta

Tonight (Sat. September 28, 2019) Bellator 228 goes down from The Forum in Inglewood, California. In the main event of the night, Patricio Freire puts his Bellator featherweight title up for grabs in the first round of the Bellator Featherweight Grand Prix tournament. Also, in the co-main event, Lyoto Machida meets Gegard Mousasi at middleweight. […]

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Tonight (Sat. September 28, 2019) Bellator 228 goes down from The Forum in Inglewood, California.

In the main event of the night, Patricio Freire puts his Bellator featherweight title up for grabs in the first round of the Bellator Featherweight Grand Prix tournament. Also, in the co-main event, Lyoto Machida meets Gegard Mousasi at middleweight. A plethora of other great featherweight bouts will take place on the main card as well.

LowKickMMA will be providing you with Bellator 228 results throughout the night as the card progresses live on DAZN. Check out the Bellator 228 results below.

Bellator 228 Results

Main Card:

  • Featherweight: (C) Patricio Freire vs. Juan Archuleta
  • Middleweight: Lyoto Machida vs. Gegard Mousasi
  • Featherweight: Darrion Caldwell vs. Henry Corrales
  • Featherweight: Saul Rogers vs. Daniel Weichel
  • Featherweight: Georgi Karakhanyan vs. A.J. McKee

Prelims:

  • Bantamweight: Jason Edwards vs. Adrian Najera
  • Catchweight (130 pounds): Jonathan Santa Maria vs. Jay Viola
  • Middleweight: Osman Diaz vs. Andre Walker
  • Catchweight (165 pounds): Ian Butler vs. Emilio Williams
  • Featherweight: A.J. Agazarm vs. Jonathan Quiroz
  • Women’s strawweight: Shannon Goughary vs. Ava Knight
  • Catchweight (165 pounds): Antonio McKee vs. William Sriyapai
  • Catchweight (175 pounds): Johnny Cisneros vs. Mike Jasper
  • Featherweight: Shawn Bunch vs. Leandro Higo
  • Featherweight: Weber Almeida vs. Castle Williams
  • Lightweight: Dominic Clark vs. Joshua Jones
  • Catchweight (133 pounds): James Barnes vs. David Duran

**Keep refreshing for live results/LowKickMMA’s Bellator 228 coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. ET**

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Patricio Freire Considers Himself Featherweight GOAT

Patricio Freire is set to defend his featherweight title in the main event of Bellator 228 when he takes on Juan Archuleta. It will also serve as a first-round matchup of the featherweight Grand Prix. ‘Pitbull’ has been in this game for a long time, and if he can win the 16-man tournament, he knows […]

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Patricio Freire is set to defend his featherweight title in the main event of Bellator 228 when he takes on Juan Archuleta. It will also serve as a first-round matchup of the featherweight Grand Prix.

‘Pitbull’ has been in this game for a long time, and if he can win the 16-man tournament, he knows he cements his legacy.

“I see [the grand prix] as a way to test myself and face guys I haven’t beaten before,” Freire said to MMA Junkie. “I’ve dominated two generations of Bellator featherweights, and I’m going to dominate the third. I want people to write in the history books I’m the greatest featherweight fighter ever, and I’m aiming at greatest all around. The tournament is a good way to settle that.”

Not only does he cement his legacy, but he says he would be the greatest featherweight of all-time. For many, that claim goes to Jose Aldo or Max Holloway, but Patricio Freire has a message for those people.

“People talk about Jose Aldo; where is he now?” Freire said. “I’m a double champion, my results are only getting better, I’m setting new records, and I plan to continue extending all of those.”

For now, though, he is focusing on the grand prix and likes who is in it so he can shut some people up.

“I can say it’ll have a special feeling if it happens to be A.J. McKee and Darrion Caldwell,” Freire said. “These guys talked all that crap and think they can get away with it. You saw what happened to the last one that said shit about me and my family. These guys will pay one way or another.”

Do you think Patricio Freire is the greatest featherweight of all-time?

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Patricio Freire Believes He Would Knockout Khabib Nurmagomedov If They Fought

Bellator featherweight and lightweight champion, Patricio Freire wants to fight UFC lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov. If they were to fight, ‘Pitbull’ believes he has the skillset to not only beat Nurmagomedov but knock him out. “K…

Bellator featherweight and lightweight champion, Patricio Freire wants to fight UFC lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov. If they were to fight, ‘Pitbull’ believes he has the skillset to not only beat Nurmagomedov but knock him out. “Khabib is very tough, has phenomenal wrestling and sambo, but he has a huge deficiency on the feet so I […]

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Bellator’s Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Says He Would Knock Out Khabib Nurmagomedov

So far, 28 fighters have tried and all 28 have failed when it came to inflicting defeat on Khabib Nurmagomedov. However, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire believes he could do it. Nurmagomedov recently defended his lightweight title with a dominant performance against Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 this past weekend. Despite some adversity, “The Eagle” was able […]

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So far, 28 fighters have tried and all 28 have failed when it came to inflicting defeat on Khabib Nurmagomedov. However, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire believes he could do it.

Nurmagomedov recently defended his lightweight title with a dominant performance against Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 this past weekend. Despite some adversity, “The Eagle” was able to come away with the third-round submission win.

Many feel Tony Ferguson has the best shot at defeating Nurmagomedov, but Bellator featherweight and lightweight champion Freire feels he would be able to catch him if they met one day:

“Khabib is very tough, has phenomenal wrestling and sambo, but he has a huge deficiency on the feet so I can catch him,” Freire told MMA Fighting. “Nothing is impossible.

“I think he’s very tough, 28-0, but another fighter from Rio Grande do Norte, (Gleison) Tibau, put on a very tough fight with him, and I think there’s a path to beat him. I believe we can do it. If my hand lands — and it would land —, it’s over.”

The chances of a UFC vs. Bellator cross-promotional bout are highly unlikely. But that hasn’t stopped Freire from thinking about Nurmagomedov’s style. In fact, he doesn’t think “The Eagle” has evolved much at all:

“He has the same fight pattern since his first fight,” Freire explained. “He backs his opponent against the fence, moves and shoots to the leg. No one has ever tried… Maybe someone did try to land a knee, but I don’t remember anyone getting close to landing. Iaquinta was doing well against him, moving well on the feet, but he was closing the distance the wrong way. I think I can close the distance better.

“Maybe if he [Iaquinta] had more time to prepare or come up with a different gameplan he would have done something better. I think he was throwing a jab and a cross. If he threw two jabs and followed with two hands it would land right on Khabib’s chin. You saw him against (Dustin) Poirier now, he looks lost on the feet. He didn’t know how to move, let his hands down, ran across the cage many times. That, my friend, when you’re fighting a striker, is pretty easy.”

Do you think “Pitbull” has a chance against Nurmagomedov?

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Scott Coker Announces Bellator Featherweight GP Opening Round Match-Ups

Bellator MMA President Scott Coker has some big news concerning the Bellator Featherweight GP this Monday afternoon. Speaking on today’s episode of ‘Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show,’ Coker unveiled the opening round match-ups for Bella…

Bellator MMA President Scott Coker has some big news concerning the Bellator Featherweight GP this Monday afternoon. Speaking on today’s episode of ‘Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show,’ Coker unveiled the opening round match-ups for Bellator’s upcoming Featherweight Grand Prix. The title fight between champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire and Juan Archuleta was previously announced for Bellator 228 […]

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