Patricio Freire is locked in for a featured prelim showdown with Aaron Pico on Saturday at UFC 319, set to take place at Kaseya Center.
The former Bellator standouts meet with Freire bringing a 37-8 MMA record and 1-1 mark in the UFC, while Pico enters at 13-5 MMA and 0-1 in the UFC. Pico was knocked out in his UFC debut against Lerone Murphy at UFC 319 in August and has been working on making changes since that loss.
Speaking to MMA Junkie and other reporters at media day through an interpreter, Freire made it clear he’s preparing for every possibility from Pico. "I'm ready for whatever kind of Aaron Pico shows up in there," Freire said. "Maybe he'll be more cautious because he got knocked out. Maybe he's going to go in there and just want to brawl. I'm prepared for whatever version. ... I hope he trained a lot of defense because he usually doesn't defend sh*t."
Freire also weighed in on how he expects Pico to respond after the knockout setback. "Usually when he gets knocked out, he comes back and he's more of a grappler," Freire said. "I have to take into consideration what he's saying and be ready for him to have reinvented himself, but at this point, he's been knocked out what, four or five times?"
