Patricio Freire: Stability Amid Uncertainty

Patricio Freire sees much uncertainty when he peers into the future.

“Pitbull” will defend his undisputed Bellator MMA featherweight crown for the first time in almost 18 months when he faces Jeremy Kennedy in the Bellator 302 co-headliner this Friday at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It serves as something of a re-launch for the Bellator organization after it was acquired by the Professional Fighters League in 2023. Freire casts a cautious eye at the situation.

“Bellator had a full roster and so did the PFL, so as they merge, we can expect things to be optimized,” he told Sherdog.com.

For his part, Freire—the most decorated competitor in Bellator history—provides some stability in the middle of all the instability. He ranks first on the company’s all-time list in appearances (27), wins (22) and various other categories. Freire has now been fighting professionally for more than two decades, providing him with experience almost no one can match.

“I debuted in 2004,” he said. “I’ve been a professional for 20 years, although I’m only 36. Few fighters accomplish this much in their careers fighting at a high level.”

Freire answers his latest challenge having lost back-to-back bouts for the first time in his career. He dropped a five-round unanimous decision to Sergio Pettis as a bantamweight at Bellator 297 in June, then found himself on the receiving end of a vicious knockout from Chihiro Suzuki as a lightweight at a Rizin Fighting Federation event on July 30.

“I always say, if you’re undefeated and you retire undefeated, that’s good for you. Had you continued, a loss would have happened eventually,” Freire said. “It’s no different with me. For all these years, I did everything in my power to avoid that possibility, but I don’t control the future. Unfortunately, I just had two losses. One was in the weight class below. The other was in the weight class above. Due to an accumulation of injuries and little time to prepare, my performance was below the norm. I wasn’t able to absorb strikes as usual. I wasn’t well.”

To that end, Freire underwent neck surgery a week after his loss to Suzuki. The procedure appears to have been an unmitigated success.

“I had a significant cervical hernia along with nerve compression,” he said. “I wasn’t able to train properly. I had to make a difficult decision. I had to choose between possibly never fighting again or fighting in the condition I was in. I was forced to go into surgery because I could barely live, much less train. I couldn’t walk properly or even turn my head due to that same disruptive pain. I was very limited. I took a risk [in having the surgery]. I don’t regret it. Now I’m going back to working hard so I can score more victories, keep my belt and continue breaking records.”

Kennedy stands in his way. The 31-year-old Xtreme Couture rep owns a 4-1 record in Bellator and enjoyed previous stints in the PFL, Ultimate Fighting Championship and Brave Combat Federation. Kennedy has not fought since he took a three-round unanimous decision from Pedro Carvalho on Feb. 25, 2023.

“I think he is the guy who really deserved to fight for the belt,” Freire said. “He’s had great wins, but Jeremy is a guy who doesn’t seem dangerous. He doesn’t really hurt his opponents. He finds ways to win within the rules set. He likes to tie up his opponents. We’ll be working on nullifying him from the very start. I guarantee that the world title will remain in Brazil.”