- Patricky "Pitbull" Freire defeated his RIZIN lightweight grand prix semifinal opponent Luiz Gustavo with punches, a foot stomp, and a couple of soccer kicks.
- You can watch the violent finish right here.
- But Freire's nasty knockout was not his only fight of the night, as victory ensured he advanced into the tournament final.
- Having fought for less than one full round, one would assume Freire was fresh for the final. But the jiu-jitsu expert was carrying a broken hand into the final, and he eventually lost, via decision, to eventual grand prix winner Tofiq Musayev.
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One of the most violent finishes to an MMA bouts you can see a soccer punt to the face happened at RIZIN's New Year's Eve show.
Patricky Pitbull Freire
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Patricky "Pitbull" Freire just scored one of the most violent knockouts you can win by a soccer punt to the head.
The 33-year-old jiu-jitsu expert won his RIZIN lightweight grand prix semifinal bout against Luiz Gustavo via punches, a foot stomp, and a couple of soccer kicks, felling Gustavo for good in a single round at the RIZIN 20 show in Saitama, Japan.
Watch Freire's brutal victory here:
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Freire had advanced to RIZIN's December 31 show having beaten Tatsuya Kawajiri by knockout in the tournament quarterfinal in October, setting up semifinal and potential final appearances on Tuesday.
With a nasty first round knockout banked in the semi, Freire was, on paper at least, fresh for the RIZIN lightweight grand prix final against Tofiq Musayev.
But MMA Junkie reports that Freire's win over Gustavo came at a cost.
He entered the final against Musayev nursing a broken hand. Freire was knocked down and dominated in every round in the final Musayev who won the grand prix.
After going 1-1 on New Year's Eve, Freire, who normally competes for the Hollywood fight firm Bellator MMA, moved his record to 23 wins (15 knockout, 1 submission, and 7 decisions) against 9 losses (2 knockouts, 1 submission, and 6 decisions).
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Azerbaijan fighter Musayev, meanwhile, moved to 18 wins (14 knockouts, 2 submissions, and 2 decisions) against 3 losses (2 submissions and 1 decision).
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