Bellator lightweight champion Brazilian Patricky Freire, who will fight Usman Nurmagomedov at Bellator 288 on November 19, believes that the Russian received a title shot only because of his big name. Recall that Usman is the third cousin of former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
"I would love to fight him, but I don't think he deserves the title fight. He fights for the championship belt only because of the big last name - Nurmagomedov. That's all. Because he's never fought a top-10 contender in Bellator," Freire said.
Usman had his last fight against American Christopher Gonzalez in July of this year at Bellator 283. Nurmagomedov won that fight by submission in the first round. He has 15 wins and no losses under his belt.
Freire had his last fight against Peter Queally of Ireland in Bellator 270 in November, 2021. That fight ended in favor of Patricky by TKO in the second round. He has 24 wins and 10 losses to his credit.