For the second time in his Bellator run, Marcin Held will be in the final of a lightweight tournament as he meets Patricky “Pitbull” Freire in season ten final tonight at Bellator 126 in Arizona. 
His previous tournament final came during the season seven tournament as he lost a decision to Dave Jansen. Since that defeat, he has won four in a row and all of those wins have come by stoppage.
During this tournament, Held (19-3) has submitted Rodrigo Cavalheiro and Derek Anderson to advance to the final against Pitbull and due to an injury by Pitbull, he took a fight in May at Bellator 120 and submitted Nate Jolly by armbar.
Since the win over Jolly, Held has made changes in his training as he is now training at Roufusport in Milwaukee. One of the main reasons he went to Roufusport was to improved his overall mixed martial arts game.
“I want be the best fighter in the world so I have to train with the best and keep learning all the time, so I knew that training with Roufusport was a good move,” Held said. “I knew that Roufusport has a UFC champion in my category and I heard a lot good things about that gym so I decided to train here for my final fight. I came here and they accepted me.”
“At Roufusport, I work a lot on my striking. I learned great stuff over here. I am not here to teach any of my grappling. If someone wants me to show something, I do it, but mostly I try to learn as much as I can.”
Held is originally from Tychy, Poland and he did not come alone to Milwaukee for his training. His fiancé Marta came with him and they have thought about maybe moving to the United States permanently but right now, he is worried about Patricky Pitbull.
While Held is known for his submissions, Pitbull is known for his knockout power. Both of Pitbull’s victories in this tournament have come by knockout but Held does believe that his opponent is a good grappler.
“ Pitbull doesn’t fight on the ground as often as I do but when he does, he grapples well,” he said. “I don’t know who is superior on the ground – the only way to find out is to fight him, and I hope he will not avoiding grappling with me at any and all costs. Also, Pitbull has a really strong striking game, a great flying knee and a solid ground game. All of this makes him a very tough and formidable opponent.”
Held does not offer a prediction on how this fight will end, but he does offer up what the key factor will be in his fight tonight against Pitbull.
“I think the key factor will be how good my standing will be compared to Pitbull’s.”