Michael Bisping questions if Patricio Freire has suffered an excessive amount of harm to impression his UFC 314 efficiency.
Freire (36-7 MMA, 0-0 UFC) makes his octagon debut in opposition to former interim featherweight champion Yair Rodriguez (16-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) in Saturday’s predominant card opener at Kaseya Middle from Miami (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN/Disney+, ESPN+).
Freire has had a long-tenured profession at Bellator, capturing each the featherweight and light-weight titles concurrently. Though “Pitbull” has a wealth of expertise and standout wins all through his profession, the 37-year-old has misplaced two of his previous three fights – one in all them by first-round knockout.
“Can the outdated man get it achieved? Patricio ‘Pitbull,’ 37 years outdated coming over from Bellator, the place I believe he was a four-time champion,” Bisping mentioned on his YouTube channel. “Greatest win in all probability (was) when he knocked out ‘Iron’ Mike Chandler within the very first spherical, vicious proper hand. He’s received good jiu-jitsu, however he’s 37 years outdated. There’s lots of put on and tear, there’s lots of miles on the clock, and that’s not stunning once you have a look at the quantity of expertise.
“Forty-three skilled fights, 36 wins, seven losses, however he has been knocked out twice. Nevertheless, once you’ve fought that many instances, there’s no downside with that. After all, he’ll be taking over the one and solely Yair Rodriguez, one in all Mexico’s most interesting. This man is to not be underestimated. He fought for the belt earlier than in opposition to Alexander Volkanovski, didn’t go his method, received stopped within the third spherical, after which he received stopped once more in opposition to Brian Ortega. He’s making an attempt to show is he nonetheless related within the division.”
Exterior of Movsar Evloev, it’s muddy waters on the high of the featherweight division. That’s why Bisping thinks the subsequent title challenger may emerge from this matchup.
“Are both of those guys going to be the subsequent man to combat for the featherweight strap as a result of guess what? That’s what’s at stake right here,” Bisping continued. “One among these guys could be the subsequent individual to combat for the belt as a result of Volkanovski desires to be lively – that’s if he will get the job achieved.”
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