Bellator MMA Featherweight Champion Patricio Pitbull puts the gold on the line against Pedro Carvalho in the main event of Bellator 241, with the contest also serving as a quarterfinal round bout in the Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix.
The featherweight champion recently welcomed a second son into this world, but the birth of his son nearly led to the fighter pulling out of Bellator 241 due to some health related issues suffered by Pitbull’s wife while giving birth.
“(Teresa) got a bit shaken up, like every mother gets, and I even asked her if she wanted me to pull out of the fight,” Freire told MMA Fighting. “She was every upset yesterday, but everything is alright now. I won’t lie to you, I considered [pulling out of the fight]. I called the entire team yesterday, got them all in the office and said, ‘Look, there’s a possibility I’ll get off the fight.’ I talked to her many times about it and she said no, she didn’t want me to (pull out), she said (fighting) would be best for me, but I realized she was shaken up and me leaving [home] would make it worse. I didn’t want to leave my wife here with two kids and go to a fight. There are moments in life in which you have to choose between your career… Even though it wouldn’t affect my future in Bellator, I would probably have to leave the GP — I don’t know if the GP would make sense without me, but in my head that would end up happening —, postpone the fight, get it a new date, but thank God it’s better now. Everything is fine now. But I did consider it, yes. I did consider it. (Thursday) was very decisive for me. I got the whole team with me and said, ‘There’s a 50 percent chance I’ll pull out of the fight. There’s nothing wrong with me, I’m light, 155 pounds, I’m well-trained and injury-free, we have the strategy set and I’m on fire, but my wife is the person that supported me the most throughout my entire life. She’s always very supportive, but it’s getting rough now.’ She was very upset and shaken up.”
Pitbull will now move onto face Carvalho this weekend at Bellator 241, with the winner facing whomever comes out on top of the Emmanuel Sanchez/Daniel Weichel bout, which is also set for Bellator 241.
Bellator 241 takes place on Friday, March 13 from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut with Patricio Pitbull and Pedro Carvalho headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which streams live on DAZN.
