For less of a seasoned veteran than Freire, those ups and downs might be a serious distraction, but he responds with the equanimity of a man who has seen it all, professionally speaking. Heading into his next assignment, against Alexandr Shabliy in the semifinals of Bellator’s lightweight tournament at Bellator 301 on Friday in Chicago, the 37-year-old Brazilian spoke to Sherdog about his past as well as his future.
“Despite alternating losses and wins, as well as injuries, I feel I’m in a good moment,” Freire said. “I beat Rizin’s champion Roberto Satoshi de Souza. He’s very dangerous. He always finishes his opponents and has very sharp jiu-jitsu. I have recovered from the injury that hindered my title defense [against Nurmagomedov]. I’m very motivated. I’m coming off a win. It was a KO. It’s what people like to see. I am training well. I haven’t stopped training since. It has me very confident going into my next bout.”
In Shabliy, who will enter their bout on the momentum of eight straight wins, “Pitbull” sees a dangerous foe, one he claims to have had on his radar for quite some time. “My next opponent, Alexandr Shabliy, is very tough,” he said. “I’ve been paying attention to him for a long time, before he even came into Bellator. He previously fought one of my training partners [Gleristone Santos]. He’s very dangerous, cool-headed, and focused. His knockout wins are both beautiful and brutal. Without a doubt, we’ll have an excellent fight. His fighting style is what I enjoy. It matches up very well with my game. The true winners will be everyone watching. I guarantee it will be an excellent fight.
Key to Freire’s preparation, as always, will be his team in Natal, Brazil, where he and his brother Patricio Freire have headquartered. “My coaches are Thiago Tourao, Valdines Silva, Vinicius Teixeira [jiu-jitsu], Chicao Silva [physical conditioning and nutrition], and Eric Albarracin [wrestling]. Eric brought in a Kyrgyzstani wrestler to help me out. His style is very similar to that of Russian fighters. I never stopped training. I have total focus. I kept up my conditioning and rhythm. I’m feeling great. I’m ready.”
As a veteran, “Pitbull” knows the perils of looking past the task in front of him, but the grand prix format does make it difficult not to see the end goal out of the corner of one’s eye. “My goal is to beat my next opponent,” Freire said. “He’s standing in my way. I’m focused on him only now. But my ultimate objective is to capture the belt. The belt is more important than money. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with the money. One million dollars is one million dollars. But I aim to beat the champion and take his belt. Money is the consequence of hard work and of a greater focus on beating all opponents. This is a very dangerous tournament. We have a concentration of very skilled and dangerous fighters.”
Beyond the ongoing grand prix, Freire was willing to muse about future possibilities. Like any other high-level fighter outside the Ultimate Fighting Championship, that includes the prospect of plying his trade in the Las Vegas-based giant. “Pitbull” admits to having considered the option and even has a particular name in mind for a potential opponent, but recognizes what he would bring to the table.
“I think that every fighter has thought about fighting in the UFC. The name that my brother and I built up would indeed be worth something in the UFC. We’d love to test ourselves against their fighters. Justin Gaethje is someone against whom I’d have a great fight. He’s very dangerous, and a knockout artist. It’s the style of fighter I like.”
About Nurmagomedov’s drug test failure and the subsequent fallout, Freire is clearly incensed. “Everything that’s happening is a clown show,” he said. “Any organization has the same rules. You’re supposed to be stripped of your belt, in addition to being removed from the tournament. The championship becomes vacant. But apparently, he’s being protected. We don’t yet know what happened exactly, but it would be very interesting to find out which substance caused him to fail testing. Everyone should have an idea of what it was. It’s sad. It’s disrespectful to his fellow athletes at Bellator. Maybe this is happening because he has good PR around him.”