By FCF Staff

Although Patricio “Pitbull” Freire did not end up fighting Pedro Carvalho on March 13th as scheduled, he was paid by Bellator, and the champ-champ is praising the organization for doing so.

Freire was supposed to defend the featherweight belt against Carvalho at Bellator 241, but the card was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Recently the Brazilian star spoke with AG Fight, and the decorated fighter had this to say about the organization (quotes via Bloody Elbow.com).

“Bellator always had this personal way of treating all its athletes. They’re our friends. We know we’re their employees, but the treatment is always personal. Leandro Higo was supposed to fight on the same day as me, but his opponent did not make weight. He was supposed to receive only his show money for that, but since Bellator cancelled the card, they paid him his win money, too. No company does that. They went out of their way to do it. It was a very noble deed.”

Higo, meanwhile, was booked to face Dominic Mazzotta at the aforementioned event.

Freire (30-4) is currently riding a five fight winning streak and the 32-year-old is coming off a decision win over Juan Archuleta in September.

Bellator has since postponed Bellator 242 (May 9), Bellator London (May 16) and Bellator 243 (May 29) as a result of the ongoing pandemic.