Tag: Patricio Pitbull

PFL Chief Denies Bellator Fighter Entrapment: ‘This Isn’t an MMA Prison Camp’

PFL Chief Denies Bellator Fighter Entrapment: ‘This Isn’t an MMA Prison Camp’PFL co-founder Donn Davis isn’t forcing anyone to stick around. Earlier this month, Davis announced that he had granted…

PFL Chief Denies Bellator Fighter Entrapment: ‘This Isn’t an MMA Prison Camp’

PFL co-founder Donn Davis isn’t forcing anyone to stick around.

Earlier this month, Davis announced that he had granted Patricio Pitbull his release after the former Bellator titleholder expressed frustration over news that Bellator and all its fighters would be absorbed into the PFL brand as one promotion going forward.

Patricio Pitbull Freire holds two Bellator titles 1

During a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Davis spoke about the big changes coming to the PFL brand over the next year and the fact that some Bellator fighters may choose to test free agency rather than stick around.

“I believe yes [Patchy Mix will stay with PFL this year],” Davis said. “I think Patchy is going to be happy, I think Corey Anderson is going to be happy, I think fighters are going to be very, very happy. But once again, if they’re not, we’re going to help them get the solution they want that’s not here.

“This isn’t MMA prison camp, this is opportunity camp. So if fighters don’t want to be here and they believe they can do better elsewhere, it doesn’t help us to have them here. It doesn’t help us. We have a pipeline of incredible fighters.”

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Davis determined to keep patchy mix in PFL

Mix, the last man to hold the Bellator bantamweight belt, asked for his outright release from the PFL due to inactivity. Now that the PFL is merging its roster with Bellator, there’s no word yet on whether or not Mix will stick around to compete inside the Smart Cage, but it certainly sounds like retaining Mix’s services is a top priority for the PFL brass.

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“Patchy is a star. We love him. I want him here. Any other fighter, we want him here. Am I super confident that this noise is a blip and this noise will go away? I am. But might there be another fighter that is unhappy and wants to go? There might be and we’ll accommodate that.”

Mix is 20-1 in his mixed martial arts career and is currently sitting on a seven-fight win streak. His last appearance inside the cage came at Bellator Champions Series: Paris in May 2024 where he defeated Magomed Magomedov via unanimous decision.

Patrício Pitbull Sends Stern Warning To Former Employer After ‘Lies’ About PFL Release: ‘Do Not Go This Route’

Via his recent live fan Q&A with MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck, PFL founder Donn Davis spoke more in detail about the current situation regarding Patrício Pitbull. The Bellator legend was recently granted his release from the promotion after being outspoken over the past several weeks about wanting to leave so that he could fight elsewhere. […]

Via his recent live fan Q&A with MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck, PFL founder Donn Davis spoke more in detail about the current situation regarding Patrício Pitbull. The Bellator legend was recently granted his release from the promotion after being outspoken over the past several weeks about wanting to leave so that he could fight elsewhere.

Pitbull had said that he wasn’t being offered fights and had reached a point where he had already made up his mind about fighting for another promotion, with one specific destination in mind. Davis argued against this during the Town Hall interview where he gave more context from the PFL’s point of view.

Davis said that the reason this had been going on for several weeks is because the promotion was trying to keep Pitbull with them by making a deal work. He said that they also tried to get the Bellator featherweight champion to fight the only bout left on his contract before leaving, with a huge clash against Aaron Pico being the option that they were heading in.

Pitbull quickly posted a response on X where he claimed that both of these points aren’t a fair reflection of the communications between the two parties.

“Hi @DonnDavisPFL, let’s keep things true all the way. You never oficially offered me the fight with Pico, and I never said no. Pete told my management that Pico was the number 1 choice but he might be hitting free agency and if so you’d find someone else. Also…

“You never said ‘fight for us this one time and we will let you go’. You said my 15 years in Bellator provided value for them and now you wanted me to provide value for PFL. And Pete said you’d exercise every legal right you guys had to prevent me from going to the competition.”

Pitbull added one more message to the statement, stating that he will continue to dispute any claims that he believes aren’t factual. The 37-year old said that he doesn’t want to have to continue talking negatively about the promotion but he will if the truth isn’t being put out there.

“I had all the intention of leaving everything behind and not talking about it anymore, but if I see any lies about me out there I won’t stay silent. As I said on our last conversation @DonnDavisPFL I hope @PFLMMA improves and can succeed, so do not go this route.”

Patrício Pitbull Outlines Three-Opponent Wish List For UFC Debut After PFL Release

Patrício Pitbull has been one of the top fighters in the featherweight division throughout his career. If there’s one thing that has held back the Bellator icon and record holder in the promotion it is that he hasn’t had the opportunity to face the best fighters in the UFC. That could change in the near […]

Patrício Pitbull has been one of the top fighters in the featherweight division throughout his career. If there’s one thing that has held back the Bellator icon and record holder in the promotion it is that he hasn’t had the opportunity to face the best fighters in the UFC.

That could change in the near future following the news that after voicing his complaints, the 37-year old has been granted a release from his PFL contract following a breakdown in communication between the two parties. Pitbull also said at this time that he hopes to sign with the UFC if the PFL let him go so that he could step inside the Octagon before retiring.

Similarly to what we have seen in the past when other Bellator stars like Michael Chandler and Michael “Venom” Page made the jump over, it would make sense for the former two-weight champion to skip the line to some degree rather than debuting on the Fight Pass prelims. He already has the high-level experienced needed and with the clock running down on his career, it’s now or never to see him in the big fights that would make his signing worthwhile.

With that in mind, Pitbull is targeting the very top of the UFC’s featherweight division. Right at the top of the 145-pound pile are the current superstar champion, the legendary former titleholder and one of the division’s most exciting rising talents who has become a huge fan favorite in recent years.

He has already posted on X to specifically mention the name of Alexander Volkanovski but after appearing on The Ariel Helwani Show, he added two more names to his planned hitlist for a potential UFC debut.

Patricio Pitbull Sets Sights On Former UFC Featherweight Champion Following Long-Awaited PFL Release

Patrício Pitbull is now officially a free agent after being granted his release from the PFL. The Bellator featherweight champion has been very vocal about wanting to leave the promotion in recent months after a breakdown in communications with the promotion and he has finally been granted his wish. The Brazilian is a legend of […]

Patrício Pitbull is now officially a free agent after being granted his release from the PFL. The Bellator featherweight champion has been very vocal about wanting to leave the promotion in recent months after a breakdown in communications with the promotion and he has finally been granted his wish.

The Brazilian is a legend of the Bellator promotion but with that brand now officially dead, he realizes that he doesn’t have long left to tick off some bucket list items in his career. At 37-years old, he has recently spoken about dreaming of getting to fight in the UFC before he hangs up the gloves for good.

As a 30-fight veteran in Bellator with the most fights, wins and finishes in the history of the promotion, it didn’t ever look like we would see him step inside the Octagon but that is quite clearly the destination which he hopes to arrive at in the coming days, weeks or months. In fact, shortly after PFL founder Donn Davis announced the news that Pitbull would be parting ways with the promotion, the Brazilian had already set his sights on a potential opponent.

It appears that whilst he has spent a lot of time talking about a move to lightweight coming sooner rather than later, UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria will face former champ Alexander Volkanovski in a rematch which he agreed to after being joined in the cage by “The Great” following his win over Max Holloway last October. Given the fact that Pitbull is towards the end of his career, it makes sense for him to jump in at the deep end against the best 145-pounders that the UFC has to offer.

If the rematch doesn’t take place in the near future for whatever reason, Pitbull would like to share the cage with Volkanovski in a dream fight that no one would have seen coming several years ago.

Patricio Pitbull Calls Out Francis Ngannou Over PFL Deal Dilemmas: ‘Will You Ever Speak Up for Us?’

Patricio Pitbull Calls Out Francis Ngannou Over PFL Deal Dilemmas: 'Will You Ever Speak Up for Us?'Free at last, free at least. Patricio Pitbull is free at last. And he’s got a few parting words…

Patricio Pitbull Calls Out Francis Ngannou Over PFL Deal Dilemmas: 'Will You Ever Speak Up for Us?'

Free at last, free at least. Patricio Pitbull is free at last. And he’s got a few parting words for the PFL and its top star, Francis Ngannou.

A day after Ariel Helwani broke the news that the Bellator brand would no longer be used by the Professional Fighters League, the promotion announced that it had officially released the most decorated fighter in the now-defunct organization’s history.

After news of Pitbull’s departure from the PFL started making the rounds, the former two-division champion absolutely shredded PFL co-founder Donn Davis and the sketchy business practices of a company that claims to always put fighters first.

“[PFL] is cutting a bunch of fighters and forcing others to take pay cuts of up to 70%,” Pitbull posted on X. “No respect for fighter contracts and what they’ve accomplished… The self-called fighters first organization is also changing its contracts so it’s almost impossible for fighters to be free agents and to leave on free agency.

“Also tying down fighters payments for many years and taking away all their leverage… The self-called co-leader in MMA is ghosting some fighters/ managers and leaving them with no answers while the owner makes silly and disrespectful posts on social media.”

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Patricio Pitbull calls for Ngannou’s help in building a fighter’s union

Pitbull also took aim at Ngannou, who signed a ground-breaking deal with the PFL in mid-2023 making him one of the highest paid fighters in all of mixed martial arts. ‘The Predator’ was also added to the promotion’s global advisory board to advocate for the best interest of every fighter on the roster.

“Hey @francis_ngannou are you aware of all the absurd things PFL is doing to fighters and putting on the new contracts?” Pitbull wrote. “Will you ever speak up for us? I’m thinking it’s time we start a PFL Fighters Union. What do you think?”

While Pitbull has been granted his outright release from the PFL, Pitbull later noted that the promotion still retains matching rights, meaning that the PFL could match any offer he receives from a rival promotion, thus re-signing him.

Patricio Pitbull Freire holds two Bellator titles

PFL Founder Grants Patricio Pitbull His Release After Months Of Public Complaints

The leading star brought over to the PFL when it acquired Bellator MMA will not be part of the promotion’s future. Patricio Pitbull, who entered the year holding the Bellator featherweight title, has officially been released by the Professional Fighters League (PFL), bringing an end to his tumultuous saga with the organization. Alongside another Bellator […]

The leading star brought over to the PFL when it acquired Bellator MMA will not be part of the promotion’s future.

Patricio Pitbull, who entered the year holding the Bellator featherweight title, has officially been released by the Professional Fighters League (PFL), bringing an end to his tumultuous saga with the organization.

Alongside another Bellator champ in Patchy Mix, Pitbull has been publicly criticizing the PFL and calling for his release for the past few weeks and months. He’s berated the promotional higher-ups for allegedly not honoring contracts and refusing to give him the level of activity he wants.

The Brazilian’s latest social media tirade came earlier today. After accusing the likes of PFL founder Donn Davis and CEO Peter Murray of ‘ghosting’ him and his issues, Pitbull even called for PFL star Francis Ngannou to get involved and stick up for the rights of fighters.

Pitbull’s posts evidently did not fall on deaf ears this time around, with Davis announcing in his own post on X that Pitbull has been granted his release.

“We are releasing @PatricioPitbull,” Davis wrote. “@PFLMMA is all about opportunity. I founded this company to create new great opportunities for top fighters. PFL has and will continue to do that for all top fighters who want to be here #PFLMMA“

The news comes a day on from the emergence of big news regarding the PFL in 2025.

After a difficult first year post-acquisition, the promotion has taken the decision to dissolve the Bellator brand. It’s unclear what that will mean for the current titleholders, with Corey Anderson and Johnny Eblen among those to question their status on social media.

It’s no secret where Pitbull sees his future, meanwhile. During his final days under the PFL banner, the Brazilian legend was clear in outlining his plans to join the UFC. And with the decorated Bellator great now a free agent, the ball appears to be in the MMA leader’s court.