Bellator 103 Date: October 11, 2013 Arena: Kansas Star Arena City: Mulvane, Kansas Featherweight bout: Fabricio Guerreiro (+660) vs Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (-840) Fight Breakdown: Bellator 103 presents a main event match-up between two Brazilan warriors in Fabricio Guerreiro and Patricio “Pitbull” Freire that is guaranteed to be exciting. The winner of the bout will move on to the Bellator lightweight tournament finals to square off against the winner of Justin Wilcox vs Joe Taimanglo. Guerreiro is the massive underdog in this match-up at +660 ($100 to win $660), while Freire is the very heavy favorite at -840 ($230 to win $100) at Several Bookmakerss. FABRICIO GUERREIRO (19-2 MMA, 1-1 Bellator) is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Desmond Green and has moved on in the Bellator featherweight tournament to face Pitbull. He initially competed in a tournament at Bellator 88 in a losing effort against “Frodo” Khasbulaev. He bounced back from the loss with a TKO win on the regional circuit, then landed himself a slot in the current tournament as he looks ahead to the toughest match up of his career. Guerreiro has never faced any opponent remotely as talented or as fierce as Pitbull. This is most definitely a step up in competition for him. He is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist who works decent takedowns and has a noteworthy offensive submission game, though he does lack in the submission defense department. His submission defense is not awful, as it holds up fairly well against most, but a talented submission artist will be able to get one over on him, no problem. His conditioning is questionable, especially considering the fact that the Green fight was the first time he went the distance in his past 12 bouts. PATRICIO “PITBULL” FREIRE (19-2 MMA, 7-2 Bellator) is coming off a very impressive first round knockout win over veteran featherweight Diego Nunes, handing Nunes the first knockout loss of his professional mixed martial arts career. Pitbull is one of the best lighter weight strikers in all of MMA. He is a very fast and explosive athlete who fights with all his heart and leaves it all in the cage. Pitbull is fast, dangerous, and effective, and he can keep that up for all 15 minutes, if necessary. He works fast strikes, throwing quick and effective kicks and punches. He can land multiple strikes before his opponent is able to land a single shot. Freire can strike technically and do damage that way, or turn the fight into a brawl and get a finish there. He has a solid chin which he is very confident in, so he loves to get into a brawl and take shots while looking for the big highlight reel knockout. On top of throwing excellent, crisp punches and kicks, he undoubtedly holds his own on the mat. He owns a black-belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and is as much a finisher on the mat as he is on the feet, as 14 of his 18 career victories have been a split seven knockouts and seven submissions. Fight Prediction: They will come out the gate strong and it will be exciting from the get go. I think it will be a round we won’t want to blink during, because we may very well miss something significant. It will be quick and fun and ultimately, Pitbull will get another highlight-reel finish. Gabe’s Pick: Patricio “Pitbull” Freire by KO (strikes, 4:03 round 1) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Under 1.5 rounds -125 for 2.5u
