Patricio
Freire is a late addition to this weekend’s
Super
Rizin 2 event, as the Bellator featherweight champion will face
Japanese kickboxing specialist
Chihiro
Suzuki in a 154-pound catchweight affair.
The pairing was announced during a press conference late on Tuesday
night. Super Rizin 2 is part of a joint event with Bellator, but in
this case, both promotions will have separate cards under their
respective rules. Freire vs. Suzuki will take place in a ring under
Rizin rules.
Freire is making a quick turnaround following an unsuccessful foray
to 135 pounds, where he dropped a five-round verdict to
Sergio
Pettis in a title bout at Bellator 297 on June 16. That snapped
a three-bout winning streak for “Pitbull,” who was coming off
successive victories over
A.J. McKee,
Adam
Borics and
Kleber
Koike Erbst.
Suzuki owns a 10-3 record in MMA. He had been victorious in his
last five appearances under the Rizin banner before suffering a
submission loss to
Kleber
Koike Erbst at Rizin 43. Due to promotion rules, that bout was
ruled a no contest on account of Erbst missing weight.
Super Rizin 2 taked place on Saturday at Saitama Super Arena in
Saitama, Japan, and is headlined by a featherweight title tilt
pitting
Mikuru
Asakura against
Vugar
Karamov. In the co-main event,
Juan
Archuleta and
Hiromasa
Ougikubo will square off for bantamweight gold.