Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire: The blood I left in the cage must be valued

Patricio “Pitbull” Freire makes no attempt to hide the pain that still resides just below the surface. But to claim he’s simply posturing for more money? Preposterous, he says. It’s much deeper than that.

“Imagine being betrayed by your father,” Freire told MMAjunkie through an interpreter. “Imagine seeing your father turn his back on you. That’s what happened to me.”

The 26-year-old Freire is already an 11-time Bellator MMA veteran, not to mention a two-time tournament winner in the promotion. But there was some tension between the fighter and his employer over the past few months, as his Season 9 tournament win wasn’t initially deemed valuable enough to earn a crack at the company’s featherweight title. Instead, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney elected to allow current champ Pat Curran and former title holder Daniel Straus to first complete their trilogy.

Freire, who was vocal in his criticism of the decision, admits he is still puzzled by the call but knows he must move forward and focus on the present.

“I saw Bjorn like a father,” Freire said. “Of course there are scars. Of course the relationship is different. I still consider several people from Bellator like family, and I don’t wish anything bad for them, but now is the time to consider what’s best for my career.

“What happened can’t be erased. But if Bellator provides me what is best for my career, I don’t see any problem on continuing there.”

Freire said he was a bit frustrated to read a recent headline that said he was “threatening to leave” Bellator, especially when he read that many fans’ felt he was being a bit petulant in his description of his current position. The Brazilian said he was only being honest in replies of questions laid before him, and that he’s happy leaving the past behind but will never hesitate to be truthful about his feelings.

“I’ve seen the negative comments about me, and I think some things must be made more clear,” Freire said. “I had my reasons to say what I had been saying. There’s more to it than people know, but I won’t go into details. I was asked questions, and I answered them. It’s not like I brought this up. I’m not the bad guy here, and even though people might think that, I don’t want to hurt Bellator either. I just want them to do the right things.

“Money is important, but it’s not everything. People have no idea what I have been through. They’re not in my shoes. They don’t know what goes on in my life. Fighting is my profession, and of course I must make money out of it, but it doesn’t mean it’s what will dictate my decisions in this sport. If it was all about money and getting more than what I have now, I could have renewed already. But it’s not just money, it’s about being respected, being treated fairly and being valued.”

Freire (21-2 MMA, 9-2 BMMA) gets a chance to prove exactly what he’s worth on June 6, as he meets Curran (20-5 MMA, 10-2 BMMA) in the headlining bout of Bellator 121, which takes place at WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Okla., and airs on Spike TV. It’s a rematch of the pair’s January 2013 affair, which Curran won by split decision.

Freire hopes he can take the opportunity to put the difficult days behind him and take another step forward on his path to greatness.

“I don’t care what people that talk bad about me say,” Freire said. “It’s easy to come here and say I’m a mercenary. They do not put food on my table and do not feed my family. The same people talking bad about me now will talk good about me if I keep winning and then talk bad again if I lose. The only fans’ opinions that I care about are the real fans. Aside from that, they don’t mean anything to me.

“My career focus is to build a legacy and be recognized as the greatest MMA fighter of all time. I hope some day people talk about me like they talk about Fedor Emelianenko. That’s why I am in this sport. But the blood and sweat I left in the cage must be valued.”

For more on Bellator 121, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.