Patricky Freire Suffers Injury, Withdraws from Title Defense at Bellator 283

Patricky Freire has been forced to withdraw from his proposed lightweight title defense against Sidney Outlaw at Bellator 283 due to an undisclosed injury.

Sherdog.com confirmed the news with sources close to the situation. The bout is expected to be postponed to a later date. Bellator has not made an official announcement regarding the status of the championship fight.

Bellator 283 takes place at Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Wash., on July 22 and is also expected to include a welterweight showdown pitting Douglas Lima against Jason Jackson. The evening’s main card will air on Showtime.

Freire claimed 155-pound gold at Bellator 270, when he defeated Peter Queally via second-round TKO in their rematch on Nov. 5. The 36-year-old “Pitbull” brother has competed under the Bellator banner since 2011, compiling a 15-8 mark and earning wins over the likes of Benson Henderson, Josh Thomson, Ryan Couture, Roger Huerta and Saad Awad, to name a few.

Outlaw has been victorious in three of four promotional appearances, with his only loss coming at the hands of Michael Chandler at Bellator 237. Most recently, the Dante Rivera BJJ product submitted Myles Jury with a rear-naked choke in the third round of their clash at Bellator 261 in June 2021.