Patricio “Pitbull” Freire Will Not Need Surgery After Bellator 160 Loss

By Tom Taylor - August 29, 2016

Last Friday, in the main event of Bellator 160, former Bellator featherweight champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire took on former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson for the chance to fight Michael Chandler for the Bellator lightweight title. Unfortunately, the bout turned into a bit of a disaster for the Brazilian slugger.

Despite a strong first round, throughout which he repeatedly tagged the much larger Henderson, Freire ultimately lost in the second, bowing out of the fight with a freak injury: a broken fibula (calf bone).

According to MMAFighting.com, however, Freire will not be undergoing surgery for this injury. Instead, he’ll spend the next three months recovering, and is planning a return to the Bellator cage sometime in early 2017. Given the fact that leg injuries have kept other fighters on the shelf for much longer stretches, Freire’s relatively speedy recovery is undeniably good news.

In the wake of his Friday night loss, the brick-fisted featherweight addressed his fans with the following Instagram post:

While Freire recovers, the Bellator lightweight division will move on in his stead, as Benson Henderson is scheduled to challenge Michael Chandler at Bellator 163 on July 19 in San Jose.


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Patricio "Pitbull" Freire