I was not surprised to hear that Patricky Freire and his brother Patricio got into a pre-fight brawl.
I was, however, surprised to learn that Karate Combat is still doing business and somehow getting fighters to participate following all the nonpayment issues in recent months. Nevertheless, Karate Combat 61 is scheduled for tomorrow night in Miami — but not with its original headliner of Shahzaib Rind vs. Patricky Freire.
That’s because “Pitbull” got sliced open during a follow-up brawl with Rind’s entourage and is no longer cleared to compete.
How it started:
How it’s going:
So what happened? Freire suggests it was all a setup.
“What a f*cking coward move,” the Brazilian told MMA Fighting. “There was that altercation yesterday, and his friends already showed up prepared today. They started throwing water at us during breakfast. It was me, Patricio, and our wives. Patricio asked them to stop, he said we were with our family, and they kept going.”
“I stood up and threw a bottle of water at them,” Freire continued. “They ran off and I chased them. When we got outside, a brawl broke out and I was the one who got hurt. They came throwing water and there were already people recording. It was all set up. These guys were the ones protecting him before the weigh-ins.”
Karate Combat has yet to comment on the incident or tomorrow night’s lineup change.
