Patrício Freire (born July 7, 1987), known professionally as Patrício Pitbull, is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. He formerly competed in Bellator MMA where he was the three-time Bellator Featherweight Champion and former Bellator Lightweight Champion. He is the younger brother of lightweight fighter Patricky Pitbull. He was the second-ever simultaneous two-weight champion in Bellator MMA history, and is widely considered to be the best Bellator fighter of all-time. He is also considered to be one of the best ever, pound-for-pound, to have never fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)[3]
Background
Freire was born and grew up in the outskirts of Natal, Brazil.[4] Freire began training Brazilian jiu-jitsu at the age of ten to help fend off the stigma of his size.[5] As a teenager, he trained at the famed Chute Boxe academy alongside notable MMA stars such as Wanderlei Silva and Mauricio Rua.[5]
Mixed martial arts career
Early career
Freire made his professional MMA debut in March 2004 at the age of 16. For the first five and a half years of his career, he competed in his native Brazil and amassed an undefeated record of 12–0 with all but two wins coming by way of stoppage.
Prior to signing with Bellator, Freire was ranked as one of the top prospects outside of the North American fight scene.[5]
Bellator MMA
Debut and Featherweight tournament
After stringing together an impressive undefeated record on the local Brazilian circuit, he was initially tabbed to make his American debut against Will Romero at Bellator 14 on April 15, 2010, in the Bellator Featherweight Tournament.
.[6] However, the bout was postponed to take place a week later at Bellator 15 on April 22, 2010. He won the quarterfinal bout via first-round submission.[7]
At Bellator 18 on May 13, 2010, he won his semifinal bout against fellow Brazilian and former EliteXC Featherweight Champion, Wilson Reis via unanimous decision.[8]
Freire faced Joe Warren on June 24, 2010, at Bellator 23 in the Tournament Final.[9] Despite nearly finishing the fight in the waning moments of the first round, Freire lost the fight by split decision.[10]
Bellator Season Four
In Bellator Season Four, Freire earned back-to-back third-round KOs against Georgi Karakhanyan and Wilson Reis (a rematch of their bout the previous year) to advance to the finals of the Featherweight Tournament.[11] Freire met Daniel Mason-Straus in the Bellator Season Four Featherweight Tournament Final at Bellator 45.[12] He won the fight via unanimous decision and earned a title shot rematch against Joe Warren.[13]
First title shot
The title shot was scheduled to take place at Bellator 47 on July 23, 2011, but a broken hand suffered in training had halted Freire's rematch with Joe Warren for the Bellator Featherweight Championship.[14]
After a near year and a half lay-off, Freire returned to action at Bellator 85 on January 17, 2013, to face Pat Curran who had defeated Joe Warren to win the Bellator Featherweight Championship at Bellator 60.[15] After a back and forth fight, Freire ended up losing a very close split decision.[16]
Bouncing back to Bellator Season Nine
Freire was set to face Rob Emerson at Bellator 97 on July 31, 2013, but Emerson was forced out of the bout due to injury and was replaced by Jared Downing.[17] Freire won via KO at fifty-four seconds into the second round.[18]
Freire faced Justin Wilcox in the tournament final at Bellator 108 November 15, 2013.[22] He won the fight via TKO in the first round.[23]
First reign as Bellator Featherweight World Champion
After being skipped over for his title shot, Freire was expected to finally challenge for the Bellator Featherweight World Championship in the long-awaited rematch with Pat Curran on June 6, 2014, at Bellator 121.[24] However, on May 21, it was announced that Curran had pulled out of the bout due to a calf injury.[25] The rematch eventually took place at Bellator 123 on September 5, 2014.[26] Freire defeated Curran by unanimous decision to become the new Bellator Featherweight Champion.[27]
Freire made his first title defense at Bellator 132 on January 16, 2015 against Daniel Mason-Straus in a rematch of their bout in May 2011, which saw Freire walk away with a decision victory.[28] Freire won the back-and-forth fight in the fourth round via a rear-naked choke submission.[29]
After his brother's knockout loss to Michael Chandler, Freire moved up to the lightweight division to earn a title shot in order to face Chandler. He faced Benson Henderson in the main event at Bellator 160 on August 26, 2016.[35] The bout ended in anticlimactic fashion as Freire stopped himself early in round two to declare he had sustained a leg injury. As a result, Henderson was awarded a TKO victory due to injury.[36] It was revealed post-fight that Freire had broken his shin in the first round after Henderson checked a low kick with his knee.[37]
Regaining the Bellator Featherweight World Championship
Freire was scheduled to make his first title defense against Daniel Weichel, in a rematch, at Bellator 188 on November 16, 2017.[41] Freire pulled out of the fight, however, due to multiple injuries. He expressed interest in a rematch with Weichel in early 2018.[42]
For his first title defense of his second reign, Freire faced Daniel Weichel at Bellator 203 on July 14, 2018.[43] He won the fight by split decision.[44]
In his second title defense, Freire faced Emmanuel Sanchez at Bellator 209 on November 15, 2018.[45] He won the fight by unanimous decision.[46]
Double Champion
On February 20, 2019, Bellator announced that Freire had signed a multi-year, multi-fight contract extension with the organization.[47] In the first fight of his new deal, Freire faced Michael Chandler for the Bellator Lightweight World Championship at Bellator 221 on May 11, 2019.[48] He won the fight via TKO in the first round to become the second Bellator fighter after Ryan Bader to hold two titles at the same time.[3]
2021 Bellator Featherweight Grand Prix
As a first-round bout of the Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix tournament, Freire defended his Featherweight Championship against Juan Archuleta at Bellator 228 on September 28, 2019.[49] He won the fight by unanimous decision.[50]
In the quarterfinals, Freire was expected to defend his Featherweight Championship against Pedro Carvalho at Bellator 241 on March 13, 2020.[51][52] However, the whole event was eventually cancelled due to the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic. The bout was rebooked and took place at Bellator 252 on November 12.[53] Freire won the fight via knockout in the first round.[54]
In the semifinals, Freire defended his title against Emmanuel Sanchez at Bellator 255 on April 2. This was a rematch of their November 2018 bout which saw Freire win by unanimous decision.[55] After dropping Sanchez with a flurry of punches, Freire won the bout after choking Sanchez unconscious via guillotine choke.[56]
In the final, Freire attempted to defend his title at Bellator 263 on July 31, 2021, against undefeated A. J. McKee for the Grand Prix Title and $1 million prize.[57] Freire was knocked down early in the fight, and lost via guillotine choke submission in round one.[58][59]
On October 6, 2021, Freire announced that he vacated the Bellator Lightweight championship, not wanting to get in the way of his brother Patricky's title aspirations.[60]
Freire defended his title against Ádám Borics on October 1, 2022 at Bellator 286.[63] He won the bout in convincing fashion via unanimous decision.[64]
Freire moved down in weight to challenge Sergio Pettis for Bellator Bantamweight Championship on June 16, 2023, at Bellator 297.[68] In the process, Freire attempted to become the first fighter in MMA history to have won three major world championships across three weight classes. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.[69][70]
Freire was scheduled to face 2023 PFL featherweight champion Jesus Pinedo in a 3 round non-title crossover fight on February 24, 2024, at PFL vs. Bellator.[73] However, Pinedo pulled out a week before the event with a back injury.[74] Pitbull was instead booked against 2023 PFL featherweight finalist Gabriel Alves Braga.[75] The days of weigh-ins, Braga was deemed unable to compete and the bout was scrapped.[76]
On short notice, Freire defended his title against Jeremy Kennedy on March 22, 2024, at Bellator Champions Series 1.[77] Surviving adversity and a cut, Pitbull won the bout in the third round as he landed a flurry of punches and knees on Kennedy.[78]
On January 14, 2025, after months of disagreements online over his inactivity and contract disputes, PFL announced that Pitbull was released from his contract.[79]
Personal life
Patrício has a wife named Teresa. They have two sons.[1][80]
