Emmanuel Sanchez Aims To Finish Bellator 145-Pound Champ Patricio Freire Within 3 Rounds

Emmanuel Sanchez is challenging Patricio Pitbull for the Bellator Featherweight Title in the main event of Bellator 209.

The featherweight title challenger says that everybody knows that he was next up to challenge Patricio Pitbull.

“Yes and no, sometimes things happen. I understand its a business and its what puts butts in seats and what sells tickets. I think I knew and Bellator knew and every fighter on the roster knows, its like there is no other challenger right now and there’s no one else ready to go out there and face Patricio Pitbull. You know what I mean, because everyone in the world knows and (everyone) on the roster again knows they’ve seen me face (Pat) Curran…(Daniel) Weichel…(Daniel) Straus. Alright, there is one guy left that I haven’t faced that’s a big name in Bellator…a big mainstay and he happens to be the champion right now. Its the match to make and I think everybody’s pumped for this fight,” says Sanchez in an exclusive interview with Fightful’s James Lynch.

Sanchez has a 9-2-0 record in the promotion and this is going to be his first opportunity to win Bellator gold.

If there is one thing that gives Sanchez confidence heading into Bellator 209, it would be the way the fighter has changed his life leading into the title bout.

“I’m prepared to go five rounds…ten rounds, but I don’t think I’m going to have to. I see it being less than three, right now more than anything…its not even what I’m doing in training or what I’m doing in my life, I guess its more maturity. Its been a process, progressing each and every fight. Its kind of cliche of course, you get better every fight…you get better every fight, everybody does…you got to. I looked back on how I felt I approached training…I approached what I was eating, what I was doing outside of training and fighting as well to before fights. It was good, but now I live by good is not good enough. I had success…I had victories, but looking back on all of that…good is not good enough and I could’ve done better. If I had done that before, I wouldn’t be saying this to you now. There’s not going to be that anymore from here on out because I’m standing by that good is not good enough, I demand and expect perfection for as hard as I work. I’m the type of person that if I don’t get something right in training or if I don’t get something right with the way I eat or what I do in life, then I’ve got to nail this down. I’ve got to nail this down, I’ve got to nail this down. I can’t sleep if I don’t do it right, I want to master it. Its just like (Georges) St. Pierre, my goal is perfection. I’ll never be perfect, but I’ll just keep striving for that perfection,” says Sanchez.

Bellator 209 takes place on Thursday, November 15 from the Menora Mivtachim Arena in Tel Aviv, Israel with Patricio Pitbull and Emmanuel Sanchez headlining. Fightful is providing coverage of the event, which airs via next day tape delay on the Paramount Network.