Patricky Freire vs. Ryan Couture Set for Bellator 148 on Jan. 29

Patricky Freire will face Ryan Couture on short notice at Bellator 148 on Jan. 29.

Sherdog.com confirmed the lightweight matchup with a Bellator official following an initial report from MMAJunkie.com. Freire replaces the injured Derek Anderson in the bout, although Anderson-Couture was never officially announced by the California-based promotion. Bellator 148 takes place at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif., and is headlined by a welterweight tussle between Paul Daley and Andy Uhrich.

Freire, 29, has alternated wins and losses in his last four outings. Most recently, the elder Brazilian “Pitbull” brother dropped a split decision against Anderson at Bellator 147 on Dec. 4. Freire is 7-6 under in the Bellator cage since beginning his promotional tenure in 2011.

A UFC and Strikeforce veteran, Couture enters the matchup on a four-fight winning streak. He made his Bellator debut in September 2014, submitting Tommy Bagnasco with a first-round rear-naked choke. He followed that performance by choking out Dakota Cochrane inside of a round in his last outing at Bellator 135.