UFC's Dan Ige still interested in Patricio Freire fight, but not stuck on it
UFC's Dan Ige still interested in Patricio Freire fight, but not stuck on it Featherweight eyes former Bellator two-division champ after KO of Woodson
Dan Ige is happy to fight Patricio Freire next – if it can happen this summer.
Ige (19-9 MMA, 11-8 UFC) finished Sean Woodson by third-round TKO last month at UFC 314, and is aiming for a quick turnaround. In a recent episode of MMA Junkie's Spinning Back Clique, his head coach Eric Nicksick campaigned for a fight against former Bellator two-division champion Patricio Freire (36-8 MMA, 0-1 UFC).
Ige revealed that the UFC is also interested, but he hasn't heard any recent developments.
"I'm not solely stuck on it," Ige told MMA Junkie Radio of Freire. "There was interest from the company, from matchmakers – there's just no date. I don't know if it actually happens. There's been no further conversations about it. There's some other featherweight fights: (David) Onama got a win over Giga (Chikadze). He's now kind of in the conversation, (along with Youssef) Zalal. There's a lot of guys that could fight.
"So I'm not stuck and waiting on one guy. If I just have an opportunity, and a date, and a location, I'll be happy. I like the 'Pitbull' fight. Obviously, it's a risk. There's no number next to his name, but he's a legend of the sport, one of the pound-for-pound best in my opinion, and it would just be a great challenge for me to test myself against a vet like that, and a huge win on my resume. So we'll see what happens."
Nicksick said Ige had a bit of an issue with his foot from the Woodson fight, but the always active featherweight likes Freire's suggestion of International Fight Week. "Pitbull" took to X to create a poll on who fans want to see him fight next, and Ige got the most votes.
"I'm just kind of healing up, training, waiting," Ige said. "(Freire) had talked about June 29. I'm cool with that. If it's later, I'm cool with that, too. I definitely want to try to get another fight this summer, though."
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