Patricio Freire Began Cutting Weight for Bantamweight Transition Last Year

Coach Eric Albarracin recently revealed that Patricio Freire was targeting a move to bantamweight to become the only triple champion in MMA history.

“When you reach a certain level, like [Henry] Cejudo and Patricio, more important than the belt itself is to make history,” the coach said in that interview. “Patricio has already beaten all the records and conquered belts in two weight divisions, now he will get [to] bantamweight and write his name in history as the only triple [champion] in Bellator history. Two belts [are] normal in our team, now we are going after the third one.”

On Monday, that move became official when it was announced that Freire will face reigning 135-pound champ Sergio Pettis in the Bellator 297 co-main event on June 16. “Pitbull” revealed to Sherdog how negotiations for that fight went down.

“I've been talking to Bellator for a long time that I was interested in challenging for the bantamweight title,” he said. “They thought it would make sense because Pettis is returning from an injury, and we both accepted.”

According to Freire, the weight-cutting process began last year.

"When I fought Kleber Koike last December I sent an official request to Bellator saying I was available to fight at bantamweight, but if they had plans about that they should let me know as soon as possible,” he said. “And they took only 10 days to answer that it was really possible. So I only strayed from my diet from Dec. 31 to Jan. 11, when I was resting with my family in the south of Brazil. So I’ve already been in the diet process since last camp.”

With three months to go before Bellator 297, Freire revealed that he has already met his nutritionist’s goal regarding his ideal weight.

"My nutritionist wants me to make the whole camp weighing 10 kilograms (22 pounds) above the bantamweight limit. We are 12 weeks away from the fight already weighing 71 kilograms (156 pounds) and totally healthy,” he said. “On my last weight cut to [featherweight], I’m making weight with only 30 minutes in the sauna.

“The only change now is that I must arrive in Chicago weighing [145 pounds], so I just need to cut [11 pounds] on the week of the fight and it will not be a problem to me. You can be sure that the best version of Patricio will show up against Pettis on June 16.”