By The Numbers: Patricky Freire

Patricky Freire now resides at the place where he always envisioned himself.

“Pitbull” enters his latest campaign as the incumbent Bellator MMA lightweight champion, having rattled off eight wins across his past 10 outings. Freire first linked arms with the organization in 2011, reached the final in two lightweight tournaments and ranks second on its all-time list with 23 appearances. He last competed at Bellator 270, where he cut down SBG Ireland’s Peter Queally with punches in the second round of their Nov. 5 rematch and laid claim to the vacant lightweight crown.

As Freire awaits word on his first title defense, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied him to this point:

35: 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 victims includes Tatsuya Kawajiri, Roger Huerta, Josh Thomson, Ryan Couture, David Rickels and “Razor” Rob McCullough. Freire owns one other victory by submission—he dispatched Ermesson Silveira Queiroz with a guillotine choke at a Gouveia Fight Championship show in 2010—and seven more by decision.

5: Bellator lightweight champions prior to Freire. The list: Eddie Alvarez (twice), Michael Chandler (three times), Will Brooks, Brent Primus and younger brother Patricio Freire. Alvarez holds the record for the longest stay atop the 155-pound division, his first of two title reigns covering 883 days.

3: Sub-minute stoppage wins on the Freire resume. He stomped out Joao Paulo Rodrigues de Souza in 50 seconds under the Cage Fight Nordeste flag on Nov. 9, 2006, punched out Kurt Pellegrino in 50 seconds at Bellator 59 on Nov. 26, 2011 and put away Luiz Gustavo Felix dos Santos with punches and a follow-up soccer kick in 28 seconds at a Rizin Fighting Federation show on Dec. 31, 2019.

14: Calendar years in which Freire has fought at least once. He went 2-0 in 2005, 1-0 in 2006, 1-1 in 2007, 3-0 in 2010, 3-1 in 2011, 0-2 in 2012, 1-1 in 2013, 2-1 in 2014, 1-1 in 2015, 2-1 in 2016, 2-0 in 2017, 2-0 in 2018, 3-1 in 2019 and 1-1 in 2021.

1: Submission loss on the Freire ledger. He surrendered to a second-round kimura from Lloyd Woodard at Bellator 62 in March 2012.

7: Countries in which Freire has competed as a mixed martial artist. He has gone 12-7 in the United States, 7-1 in Brazil, 2-1 in Japan, 1-0 in Ireland, 1-0 in Italy, 1-0 in England and 0-1 in Canada.

51: Professional rounds completed by Freire. He has gone the distance 13 times in his 34-fight career and owns a 7-6 record in those bouts.

9: Promotions in which Freire has plied his MMA trade. He has gone 15-8 in Bellator, 2-1 in Rizin Fighting Federation, 2-0 in Fight Ship Looking Boy, 1-0 in Cage Fight Nordeste, 1-0 in Leal Combat, 1-0 in Gouveia Fight Championship, 1-0 in Platinum Fight Brazil, 1-0 in Arena Gold Fights and 0-1 in Rinos Fighting Championships.

.770: Cumulative winning percentage between the eight men—Chandler (twice), Alvarez, Queally, Woodard, Tofiq Musayev, Derek Anderson (twice), Marcin Held and Willamy Freire—who have defeated Freire. They boast a combined record of 167-50.