At Bellator 209, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (28-4) crowded, crouched and banged his way inside of his latest challenger’s incredible reach advantage, giving up 11 inches to the long levers attached to Emmanuel Sanchez (17-4). The 28-year-old challenger’s Jiu-Jitsu acumen seemed to put him at a distinct disadvantage in punching prowess, antithetical to the defending featherweight champion who came back from the dead against Daniel Weichel behind one left hook.
Yet, three minutes into the opening frame, Sanchez uncorked an overhand right that buckled Freire’s knees. Crimson manifested around the Brazilian’s left eye and a fight was on.
Not long into Round 2, Sanchez began gushing from a cut beneath his own eye. Freire was punishing his man with curled punches. The challenger eventually returned fire with a high kick. But Pitbull caught the attack and used it to throw Sanchez off balance. At the two-minute mark, the champion pressured Sanchez toward the fence and landed another takedown, securing an inside leg trip, closing the round in top-position.
Sanchez was on his back again early in the third period. He tried valiantly to establish a long-range attack, whipping his legs into Freire’s midsection and just missing with an axe kick. Momentum shifted though when the Brazilian champion stepped in with stiff left jabs and quickly followed those up with slashing right hands.
A double flying knee from Pitbulll would have punctuated the round in his favor if not for his challenger tossing up another high kick. Freire caught the shot in stride and used it to drag Sanchez to the mat another time.
Drama was building in Round 4, as both fighters took turns hitting takedowns in the very first minute. Then Sanchez’s length became a factor. Long straight punches put Freire on his bicycle. His backward momentum did him in when Sanchez tripped the champ. Pitbull didn’t stay down for long, posturing into a double-leg. After driving his man to the mat, he administered short punches for one minute before Sanchez scrambled to his feet.
Still three minutes to go in the stanza, it was Pitbull who looked like he needed a breather. Sanchez chased him around the cage, scoring over and over with a voluminous brand of kickboxing: sharp kicks at the end of one-two combinations lashed into Freire’s body and both of his legs. A takedown attempt to stop the abuse was brushed off by the challenger and Sanchez ended the period pinning his man to the fence.
Sanchez opened the final five minutes with venom in his veins. He sparked Freire with multiple punches but the fight slipped out of his hands when the champion unveiled that left hook of his, clipping Sanchez on the chin. The punch left the challenger clambering before falling into Freire to find his balance. Pitbull jumped on the opportunity and pounded Sanchez some more on the ground, bloodying up the younger man’s face and the canvas surrounding them.
The downtrodden challenger did rise to his feet one more time—with just 50 seconds to go. Pressing Freire into the fence again, he served up arcing elbows before throwing a desperate spinning heel hook. Pitbull circled out and away from the revitalized corpse, jogging off the final 15 seconds, even as Sanchez made a gesture for more violence. Alas, Pitbull was content with his work.
The judges thought it was enough too, turning in scores of 48-46, 48-47, and 48-47.
“Sanchez made it tough for me,” Freire told referee-turned-color commentator John McCarthy in the cage. “But I proved I am the best in the division.”
Some corners of the media don’t agree.
This week, Freire barely squeezed into MMA Junkie’s divisional rankings, and still falls short of Sherdog’s Top 10, below of course a handful of his UFC counterparts.
Losing just once in his last 12 bouts at 145 pounds—avenging the lone loss to Strauss—Pitbull’s Bellator run consists of at least 13 quality wins: Strauss (three times), former champion Pat Curran, Weichel (twice), Henry Corrales, Justin Wilcox, Diego Nunes, Wilson Reis (twice), Georgi Karakhanyan, and now Sanchez.
That kind of ledger shouldn’t fall behind UFC competitors Alexander Volkanovski, Renato Moicano, Mirsad Bektic, who MMA Junkie currently rate above Freire, and haven’t picked up more than six Octagon victories apiece. Or behind Jeremy Stephens and Cub Swanson, who Sherdog decided were Top 10 material over the Bellator champion, despite both coming off losing efforts.
Pitbull has the scalps to match any featherweight on the planet. But remains the underdog of the bunch.
