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Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire is set to return to action just a month after his last fight. In a surprise last-minute announcement, Freire has been added to the Bellator x Rizin 2 card.
The Bellator featherweight champion will face Japanese kickboxer Chihiro Suzuki on the Bellator-Rizin co-promotional card at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan. The pair will fight in a 154-pound catchweight bout on the Rizin portion of the event.
ESPN's Marc Raimondi reported the news on Twitter.
"Pretty crazy news out of Tokyo tonight. Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire is going to fight this weekend on short notice, just a little over a month after his last bout, on the Bellator x Rizin co-promotional show."
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Patricio 'Pitbull' last fought on June 16 against Sergio Pettis at Bellator 297, challenging for the Bellator bantamweight championship in his divisional debut. He will be keen to make amends for the unanimous decision loss.
The defeat was preceded by a strong run of formm which saw Freire regain the featherweight title and defend it once.
Chihiro Suzuki, meanwhile, competes in Rizin Fighting Federation and also KNOCK OUT, a Japanese martial arts promotion. Suzuki is the KNOCK OUT black super lightweight champion and holds a a strong professional mixed martial arts record of 10 wins, three losses, and one no contest.
Suzuki has competed all his life in Japan fighting for two major MMA promotions, Rizin and Pancrase prior to that, while also competing as a kickboxer. His kickboxing record is admirable, having lost only once in 13 fights, with 10 knockout finishes in his 12 wins.
Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire says he is 'ready all the time' ahead of matchup against Chihiro Suzuki
Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire does not want his readiness to be questioned.
His extremely short turnaround time was recently brought up given that his last fight was just over a month ago against Sergio Pettis on June 16. At the announcement press conference by Bellator and Rizin, Freire declared himself ready to go. He stated that he was always training to take on any fights:
“They asking me if I am ready to fight and I am always training. So when the war is coming, I am f*****g ready all the time. Let’s f*****g go. Let’s do that.”
Check out Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire's confident comments ahead of the fight.
