Freire: I feel sorry for ‘old’ Shamrock & Slice
On the under card of Bellator 138, Patricio Freire defends his featherweight title and is not happy to not be in the main event; instead Slice and Shamrock headline the event.
On the under card of Bellator 138, Patricio Freire defends his featherweight title and is not happy to be in the main event, instead Slice and Shamrock headline the event:
I feel sorry for them – they’re old, Freire (23-2 MMA, 11-2 BMMA) told MMAjunkie, repeating feelings he’s expressed multiple times recently. I don’t want to see an old guy get hurt in the ring. That doesn’t look good. This isn’t a joke, fighting in a cage.
I’ve watched ‘Kimbo when I was a kid fighting on YouTube, and Ken Shamrock is a legend, and do think it brings more money to the sport; it does bring casual fans, he said. But I was created in Bellator, and I’m the winningest fighter in Bellator, and I need to be treated as such.
Look at when Frankie Edgar fought B.J. Penn (at UFC 118) – they were the main event and Randy Couture vs. James Toney, who were a lot older and a lot more famous, were not the main event. And Bethe Correia, who I grabbed by the hand and put her in the gym for the first time she’s ever stepped on an MMA mat, is now fighting for a title two years later on the same card as legends like (Antonio Rodrigo and Antonio Rogerio) Nogueira and (Mauricio) ‘Shogun’ Rua. These guys are being her because … there’s a championship fight on the card. Because how are you going to put a world champion in the co-main event? I’m the only world champion on the card. It doesn’t make sense.