Patricky
Freire
will square off with
Roberto
Satoshi de Souza when their makeshift
Bellator
MMA lightweight grand prix quarterfinal headlines
Bellator x Rizin 2 on Saturday at the Saitama Super Arena in
Saitama, Japan. The winner advances to the tournament semifinal,
where Alexander Shabliy lies in wait.
Freire enters the eight-man draw having lost three of his past four
bouts. “Pitbull” last competed at Bellator 288, where he
surrendered the company’s lightweight crown to
Usman
Nurmagomedov in a five-round unanimous decision on Nov. 18.
Satoshi, meanwhile, steps in on less than a week’s notice to
replace the injured
A.J. McKee.
The two-time Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship
gold medalist last fought on May 6, when he outpointed
Spike
Carlyle to a unanimous verdict at Rizin 42.
As Freire and Satoshi approach their forthcoming battle at a
161-pound catchweight, a look at some of the numbers that have
accompanied them to this point:
37: Years of age for Freire, who was born in Mossoro, Brazil, on
Jan. 21, 1986.
16: Freire victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting
for 67% of his career total (24). His list of Bellator victims:
Derek
Campos (twice),
Peter
Queally,
Roger
Huerta,
Josh
Thomson,
Ryan
Couture,
David
Rickels,
Kurt
Pellegrino,
Toby Imada and
Rob
McCullough. Freire owns one other victory by submission (4%)—he
took care of
Ermesson
Silveira Queiroz with a guillotine choke at a Gouveia Fight
Championship show in 2010—and seven more by decision (29%).
28: Seconds needed for Freire to bury
Luiz
Gustavo with punches and a soccer kick at Rizin 20 on Dec. 31,
2019. Nearly four years later, it remains his fastest finish to
date.
78: Rounds started by Freire as a professional mixed martial
artist. He has gone the distance on 14 different occasions and
carries a 7-7 record in those bouts.
.719: Cumulative winning percentage between the four
opponents—Queally,
Michael
Chandler,
Eddie
Alvarez and
Lloyd Mix—who
have finished Freire. They boast a combined record of 80-31-1.
33: Years of age for Satoshi, who was born on Sept. 19, 1989 in Sao
Paulo, Brazil.
10: Satoshi wins by submission, accounting for 67% of his career
total (15). His methods of choice: four rear-naked chokes, two
triangle chokes, two triangle armbars, one arm-triangle choke and
one armbar. Satoshi holds four other wins by knockout or technical
knockout (27%) and one more by decision (6%).
2,183: Days spent by Satoshi as an undefeated mixed martial artist.
He made his pro debut on Oct. 20, 2013 and started his career a
perfect 9-0 before being struck into submission by
Johnny Case
at Rizin 19 on Oct. 12, 2019.
11: Consecutive calendar years in which Satoshi has fought at least
once. In addition to his 1-0 mark in 2023, he went 1-0 in 2013, 1-0
in 2014, 1-0 in 2015, 2-0 in 2016, 1-0 in 2017, 1-0 in 2018, 2-1 in
2019, 1-0 in 2020, 3-0 in 2021 and 1-1 in 2022.
48: Combined victories between the two opponents—McKee and Case—who
have beaten Satoshi. They sport a cumulative .822 winning
percentage at 48-10-1.