Bellator MMA After competing in many Brazilian promotions, Freire compiled a 7–1 record before entering the Bellator Season Four Lightweight Tournament. He faced former
WEC Lightweight Champion,
Rob McCullough at
Bellator 36 on March 12, 2011, in the opening round of the tournament. He won via TKO in the third round. Freire went on to face two-time finalist
Toby Imada in the semifinal at
Bellator 39. Freire defeated Imada via knockout in the first round after landing a brutal flying knee and following up with a flurry of punches which caused Imada to fall to the mat unconscious. The win saw him progress to the final of the tournament where he faced fellow finalist
Michael Chandler at
Bellator 44. Freire lost via unanimous decision. Freire next faced
Kurt Pellegrino at
Bellator 59 on November 26, 2011. He won the fight via TKO in the first round. Freire faced
Eddie Alvarez at Bellator 76. After a back-and-forth opening minute that saw both fighters rocked, he lost the fight via knockout in the first round. It was announced that Freire will face Guillaume De Lorenzi in the Bellator 2013 Lightweight Tournament on January 31. Unfortunately, Freire suffered an injury and pulled out of the Lightweight Tournament a few days prior to this fight. Freire returned to the Bellator cage on September 7, 2013, as he faced Derek Anderson at
Bellator 98. Despite winning the first round, Freire lost the fight via unanimous decision. In March 2014, Freire entered into the
Bellator Season Ten Lightweight Tournament, where he faced
David Rickels in the opening round at
Bellator 113. He won the fight via knockout in the second round. In the semifinals, he faced
Derek Campos at
Bellator 117. Again he won the fight via TKO in the second round. He was scheduled to face
Marcin Held in the finals at
Bellator 120. However, Held was forced out of the bout due to injury, and the fight was subsequently cancelled. The bout eventually took place at
Bellator 126 on September 26, 2014. Freire lost the fight via unanimous decision. After nearly a year away from the sport, Freire returned to face
Saad Awad at
Bellator 141 on August 28, 2015. He won the fight by unanimous decision. In the first rematch of his career, Freire faced
Derek Anderson for a second time on December 4, 2015, at
Bellator 147. He again lost the fight, this time by controversial split decision. Freire replaced an injured
Derek Anderson to face
Ryan Couture at
Bellator 148 on January 29, 2016. He won the bout via knockout in the first round. It was announced that Freire will face
Derek Campos for the second time as the
Bellator 152 main event. Just four days before their scheduled bout Campos pulled out due to injury and replaced by the newly signed former
UFC fighter
Kevin Souza. In May 2016, Bellator President
Scott Coker announced that Freire would have a rematch against
Michael Chandler at
Bellator 157 on June 17, 2016. The bout was for the vacant
Bellator Lightweight Championship, which was vacated when champion
Will Brooks was released from the promotion. Freire lost the fight via knockout in the first round. Freire returned to the Bellator cage on February 18, 2017, in the main event at Bellator 172 against
Josh Thomson. He won the fight via knockout in the second round. Freire was expected to face Derek Campos for a second time at
Bellator 167 on December 3, 2016, however Freire was forced out of the bout due to an injury. The rematch was scheduled to take place at
Bellator 181 on July 14, 2017. However, Freire instead faced
Benson Henderson at
Bellator 183 on September 23, 2017. He won the fight by split decision. Freire is facing a 180-day medical suspension, unless he gets physician clearance regarding right rib pain. Freire faced Derek Campos in a rematch at
Bellator 194 on February 16, 2018. He won the fight via TKO in round one. Freire faced
Roger Huerta on September 21, 2018, at
Bellator 205. He won the fight via knockout. Bellator booked Freire against newcomer Ryan Scope for their first show in the Bellator Europe series that marked the start of the organization's partnership with
Channel 5 and
Sky Sports. The event was called
Bellator Newcastle and took place on February 11. Despite rupturing a tendon in his right wrist on the first round of the fight, Freire won by split decision. On February 20, 2019, Bellator announced that Freire had signed a multi-year, multi-fight contract extension with the organization.
Rizin FF Due to his brother being the prevailing Bellator Lightweight champion, Patricky decided to take part in
Rizin FF Lightweight tournament. In the first round of the tournament, Freire faced
Tatsuya Kawajiri at
Rizin 19 on October 12, 2019. He won the fight via knockout in the first round. In the semifinals of the grand prix Freire faced Luiz Gustavo at
Rizin 20 - Saitama on December 31, 2019. Freire won the fight via a first minute knockout and advanced to the grand prix final. The 2019 Rizin Lightweight Grand Prix final was held in the
same event with the semifinals. Despite
Tofiq Musayev receiving a yellow card in the second round, Freire lost the fight via unanimous decision after being knocked down and largely dominated in every round.
Post-Rizin GP In the first fight after the Rizin Lightweight Grand Prix, Freire was expected to headline
Bellator Dublin 2 against
Peter Queally on October 3, 2020. However, Queally was forced to withdraw from the bout due to a hand injury. Freire was subsequently rebooked to face Jaleel Willis two weeks later at
Bellator 249 on October 15, 2020. In turn, this bout was cancelled the day of the event when the Mohegan Tribal Athletic Commission deemed Freire unable to compete due to what was termed an undisclosed medical issue. Freire faced
Peter Queally at
Bellator 258 on May 7, 2021. After sustaining a cut on his forehead from an elbow while Queally was on the bottom, the doctor stopped the fight between rounds after the
cutman was unable to stop the bleeding.
Bellator Lightweight World Champion Freire rematched
Peter Queally at
Bellator 270 on November 5, 2021. On October 6, 2021, Patricky's younger brother and
Bellator MMA Lightweight Champion Patrício Pitbull announced he vacated the title and that the rematch with Queally would be for the
Bellator Lightweight World Championship. Freire won the bout via second-round technical knockout to become Bellator Lightweight World Champion. Freire was scheduled to make the first defence of the
Bellator Lightweight World Championship against
Sidney Outlaw on July 22, 2022, at
Bellator 283. On July 4, it was announced that Patricky had sustained an injury and that the bout would be scrapped. Freire then made his first defence, against
Usman Nurmagomedov on November 18, 2022, at
Bellator 288. He lost the fight and the belt via unanimous decision after a one-sided fight.
Lightweight Grand Prix On January 11, 2023, Freire was announced as one of the 8 participants in the $1 million
Lightweight Grand Prix. Freire was scheduled to face
A.J. McKee in the
Bellator Lightweight World Grand Prix Quarter-Final as part of
Bellator MMA x Rizin 2 on July 30, 2023. However, on July 26, it was announced McKee had pulled out of the bout due to an injury, and that he was replaced by
Rizin Lightweight Champion Roberto de Souza. Freire won the bout by a leg kick technical knockout. In the semifinals, Freire faced
Alexandr Shabliy on November 17, 2023, at
Bellator 301. In dominant fashion, Shabliy beat Patricky via unanimous decision, gathering all 50-45 scorecards from the judges.
PFL Freire started the 2024 season with a bout against
Clay Collard on April 12, 2024, at
PFL 2. He lost the fight by second-round technical knockout. Freire faced Bruno Miranda on June 21, 2024, at
PFL 5. He lost the bout via split decision. On January 21, 2025, Patricky announced that he had been released from his PFL contract per his request and signed with the Global Fight League. However, in April 2025, it was reported that all GFL events were cancelled indefinitely. Freire faced Shunta Nomura on July 27, 2025, at
Super Rizin 4, and lost the bout via unanimous decision. Freire faced Yoshinori Horie on April 12, 2026, at
Rizin Landmark 13. He lost the bout via split decision. ==Grappling career==