Primetime player
Connellsville native Fremd eager to compete on big stage
Josh Fremd’s debut in the Professional Fighters League (PFL) was about as good as it gets for the Connellsville native.
The 2012 graduate of Connellsville Area High School won by knockout with 1:03 remaining in the third round inside the UPMC Events Center on the campus of Robert Morris University in Moon Township on March 28.
Fremd’s victory over Jarrah Al-Selawe (21-8, 13 stoppages) in middleweight (185 pounds) action improved his MMA record to 12-6 with nine stoppages.
While Fremd was ecstatic regarding his triumph in what was a homecoming of sorts for the former Falcon who played football and wrestled while at Connellsville Area High School, he is ready to prove that he is one of the top contenders in PFL when he steps inside the cage this evening for PFL Charlotte at Bojangles Coliseum.
Fremd will compete in a three-round middleweight bout against Jhony Gregory (11-5, 9 stoppages) of São Paulo, Brazil, in an event that will be broadcast on ESPN. The bout will be the first on the main card, which is scheduled to begin at 10 p.m.
Fremd is ranked No. 9 among middleweights in the PFL. Gregory comes into the fight at No. 10.
“I am super excited to get back and work my way up in the rankings,” Fremd said. “It was an exciting evening in Pittsburgh, but I can’t get hell bent on what happened. I need to take care of the business at hand on Friday.”
Fremd moonlighted several weeks following his PFL debut, as he earned a first-round knockout over Jared Torgeson on April 17 in the Cobank Arena at National Western Center for BKFC 88 in Denver, Colo. Fremd was competing for the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) promotion, and was glad to earn a nice payday and “Performance of the Night” honors, but he has his mind set on succeeding in the PFL.
“It was nice to fight in Denver, which is where I live and train now, but the bareknuckle thing was kind of a one off,” Fremd said. “My goal is to win a championship in the PFL, and that is my focus right now. It was nice to have a dedicated MMA camp for this fight.”
Fremd expects Gregory to come out of the gates swinging, but believes the fight will turn his way as it progresses into the later rounds. Gregory is 1-1 in the PFL, as he won his last fight by submission at 1:17 of the first round on Feb. 7 at PFL Dubai.
“He brings a lot of explosiveness and tenacity,” Fremd said. “I have seen him around the hotel, and he is looking mean and aggressive, but I feel like I have a really good gas tank, especially in the third round, so I hope to exploit that. I think I am more skillful on the ground, so if the fight ends up that way, I should be good.”
Fremd has been in Charlotte, N.C., since Monday, and he is close to weight, which he hopes will be a positive when the fight begins.
“I am super close to weight right now, but once I start the weight cut, I get that feeling I’m about to die, and then I become more mean and aggressive,” Fremd said. “When I am just hanging out and doing my media stuff, I do my best to stay calm. You don’t want to think too deeply about making weight. It’s tough but that is something that every fighter has to deal with.”
Fremd is pleased to be on the first first of the main card, and he hopes he can set the bar high for the remaining fights.
“I am excited to be starting out on the main card,” Fremd said. “It is nice to be on the opener of the main card, or the closer of the preliminary round.”
The main event will feature another top-10 middleweight battle, as New Castle native Dalton Rosta (11-3) steps inside the cage against Bryan Battle (12-3, 1 NC). Rosta is ranked fourth in the PFL, while Battle comes in at No. 8. Both fighters suffered a setback in their last bouts at Robert Morris.
Middleweights Josh Silveira (15-5) and Aaron Jeffery (16-6) will compete in a third top-10 fight on the main card.
The preliminary round is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. and can be viewed on the ESPN App.