Name of the Fight: Bellator 209: Pitbull vs. Sanchez
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3 reasons to tune into Bellator 209: Pitbull vs. Sanchez
A defending featherweight champion versus a challenger with nothing to lose? There will be lots to see during this Bellator match.
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Date: November 16 from Menora Mivtachim Arena in Tel Aviv, Israel
Time: November 16, 9 p.m. EST
Network: Paramount Network Stream on DAZN
While Bellator might not have the brand recognition that UFC does, the second most popular MMA promotion in North America continues to crank out high-quality bouts not just in its home territory, but around the world. With that in mind, Bellator is heading back to Israel for the third straight year, and this time it’s bringing with it a high-quality featherweight championship bout between the reigning, defending champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire and the challenging Emmanuel Sanchez. Here’s what everyone will be watching out for in this match-up.
Pitbull finally has his class figured out and is ready to defend his title.
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Sometimes, a fighter figuring out their division and putting in the work to own it is the best thing in the world. For Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, that realization came after a disaster of a move up from his ideal weight class of featherweight into the lightweight division. That decision landed Freire in a bout against Benson Henderson at Bellator 160, and resulted in the Brazilian-born fighter’s only non-decision lose with the promotion. A nasty leg injury in the second round led to a TKO defeat and sent Freire back down to the featherweights in order to reclaim his title, which he did in defeating Daniel Straus at Bellator 178.
His first defense of his second reign came in July of this year as he took on German brawler Daniel Weichel in Rome at Bellator 203. Despite picking up the split-decision victory, Freire was vocally upset with his performance, chalking it up to the 15-month layoff between fights: ““I felt the ring rust a little bit. It’s not a good thing to stay a lot of time without fighting. We need to hit a rhythm.” That won’t be the case this time around, as he’s stepping into the cage with Sanchez a mere four months after his last fight. Rhythm should be there for the Brazilian, who is looking to successfully defend the featherweight title for the fourth time.
But Sanchez has some moves up his sleeves that could throw Pitbull for a loop.
On the other hand, Sanchez is stepping into unfamiliar turf: This will be the Wisconsin native’s first bout outside of the United States, and he’s stepping in with a seasoned champion. However, “El Matador” is no slouch himself. Inside the Bellator cage, Sanchez has never lost by anything but decision, and is 7-1 in his past eight fights; his only loss came in June of 2016 to German brawler Daniel Weichel. Sanchez specializes in submissions, while Pitbull has never been submitted in his 31 fights.
Sanchez has said all the right things in the lead-up to Bellator 209, throwing down the gauntlet against the champ. After Freire called him out following 203, Sanchez immediately accepted and, on Instagram, claimed that he will be the next featherweight champ: “It’s time for a new featherweight champion. It’s time for the new king to reign supreme. I am [Bellator] entertainment, the most active fighter on the roster, the toughest road to gold, and the rose that grew from concrete. It’s my time.” Big words from someone stepping into his first title challenge, but the 28-year-old has seen a rise as fast as anyone in the company, so who can blame him?
The key to winning this Bellator? Concentration.
The key for the Tel Aviv bout will be how Freire dictates the fight from the go; he has to know that Sanchez will not be knocked out or submitted, so the Brazilian will have to focus on the cards to retain his title. That’s not out of the realm of possibility, but it will require patience and finesse to not overextend in search for points.
That’s when Sanchez is at his most dangerous, as he showed in his last fight against Sam Sicilia in April: Not even four minutes into the fight, Sanchez locked in an arm-triangle choke after cornering the shorter Sicilia in the cage. If he’s able to push the Pitbull around like that, we might be crowning a new featherweight champion in Tel Aviv. But if Freire can keep to his style, land some big punches, and keep Sanchez on his toes, the featherweight division will continue to belong to the 31-year-old champ. Regardless of who comes out on top, this should be a long, physical fight, and in those, one small mistake can turn the tables for good in either direction.