What was supposed to be Patricky “Pitbull” Freire’s coronation in the promotion Karate Combat devolved into a bloody parking lot melee that has now turned into a war of words against Karate Combat president Asim Zaidi. The Brazilian veteran was scheduled to face lightweight champion Shahzaib Rind at Karate Combat 61, but the fight was scrapped after a chaotic brawl erupted Friday morning at the fighter hotel.
Now, Patricky’s brother, UFC fighter Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, is accusing the promotion of purposefully hiding footage to paint his team as the sole aggressors in a video statement posted Sunday, May 3.
Jerry Lai-Imagn Images
Water Gun Incident Turns Into Brawl
According to the Pitbull brothers, the conflict began when members of Shahzaib Rind’s team approached them while they were eating breakfast with their wives:
“They came from the promotion’s office, and they had a guy ready to film,” Patricio stated in the subtitles of their released footage, accusing the team of premeditation.
The situation escalated when the assailants sprayed the fighters and their partners with water guns. “So like two children, they sprayed us with water guns and our wives, and that was the fatal error,” the captions read.
Patricio explained that despite asking for respect, the provocation continued. “You cannot go to a man’s table, throw water in his wife’s face, and get away with it,” he told Brazilian outlet UOL.
Patricky suffered a severe cut over his eye from an elbow during the ten-minute brawl, leading the Florida State Athletic Commission to pull him from the card and issue suspensions.
Alex Pereira’s Coach Gets Involved
When Patricky chased the group outside, he ran into an ambush. “Patricky went after them, and there were already more people waiting outside, some even with cameras recording,” Patricio claimed.
The video shows an all-out street fight erupting in the hotel parking lot, with punches and kicks flying between both teams.
In the chaos, UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira’s head coach, Plinio Cruz, was dragged into the fray. Footage shows Cruz attempting to separate the grappling fighters and restore order physically.
Plinio himself posted on X to address the situation:
Karate Combat President
The beef started during a promotional face-off Thursday night, when Rind and Patricky Pitbull started engaging in a fight, causing Patricio to join in (via Fullviolence on Instagram):
Karate Combat’s president, Asim Zaidi, then leveraged the tensions, and posted the hotel brawl footage to his Instagram:
While the commission and promotion moved forward with Rind on the card, the Pitbulls went on the offensive against Zaidi.
“This MMA promotion has never had as many views as it's having now and purposefully hid some footage,” their post stated.
They accused the organization of spinning the story to make them look like unprovoked criminals while ignoring the instigators. “As they’re trying to manipulate the footage, we’re showing our side and what they’ve left out,” Patricky added .
The Pitbulls’ video captions sarcastically note Zaidi crying for them to stop while “protecting the guy” from Rind’s team.
Despite the cancelled fight and potential legal repercussions, Patricio Pitbull remains defiant. He told Brazilian publication SUPER LUTAS that he has zero remorse for defending his family’s honor.
“If I see someone trying to kick my brother and elbow him in the face, I’m going to beat those sons of b—es up,” Patricio said in a fiery interview.
“I would do it all again a thousand times if necessary,” he concluded, vowing that the rivalry with Rind is far from over.
