WSoF: If Bellator won’t give Freire a title shot, we will
“@PatricioPitbull We would like to have you fight for @MMAWorldSeries,” tweeted Ali Abdel-Aziz. “Bellator didn’t give you a title shot but we would.”
Earler this week Bellator MMA announced that the organization’s featherweight champion Daniel Straus will fight former champion Pat Curran at Bellator 112.
Curran beat Straus in 2009. but lost a decisive unanimous decision, and his title, to him in November.
At the close of the press release was the organizations mission statement.
As Bellator describes itself as a tournament-based event, in the eyes of many, granting a rematch two months later does not make sense, as there are not one but two featherweight tournament winners waiting for their earned title shot.
One of the two, Patricio Pitbull Freire, lost in a title shot to Curran a year ago via Split Decision, but has been on a 4-0 tear since, with three KOs and the aforementioned tournament win. The other, Magomedrasul Khasbulaev, has licensing issues.
Freire was irate in an interview with MMAJunkie‘s John Morgan.
I’m very upset with the organization,” said Freire. “I’ve knocked out three of my past four opponents.
I lost to Curran in a split decision, so I felt like I deserved to get back in there and have another shot at him. Instead, I had to go back to normal fights and the tournament, but I knocked out three of my next four opponents and feel like I’ve done enough again to get the shot now.”
“I told them I should get the shot, and then they just said that’s the direction the company is going and for me to just keep doing what I’m doing. Nothing they do right now is going to make right what they have done to me.
Following on their fighter vs. fighter winner take all PPV challenge, World Series of Fighting (WSOF) resident matchmaker Ali Abdel-Aziz reached out to the disgruntled Freire.
“@PatricioPitbull We would like to have you fight for @MMAWorldSeries,” tweeted Abdelaziz. “Bellator didn’t give you a title shot but we would.”