Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull will be out of action until 2024 following surgery to fix herniated discs, per his team.
Following the first knockout loss of his career at Super RIZIN 2 the featherweight revealed that he would need surgery to fix herniated discs that caused neck pain and arm numbness.
“I was feeling this pressure when I got hit in the fights, I was feeling my arms and legs weak and numb. I avoided surgery because once you do it there’s no coming back, and there were risks involved, like not returning to fighting again,” he said in a release.
“I was very conservative and I paid the price. I had never lost two in a row nor got knocked out in 19 years as a professional. My only way out was doing the surgery.”
His team announced that the surgery was a success, and is expected to be cleared to fight in six months.
This leaves Bellator with decisions to make at 145-pounds in terms of a possible interim title. No word from the promotion as of yet on those plans.
Pitbull is riding a two-fight losing streak with the loss at Super RIZIN 2, and falling short in his quest to become the Bellator bantamweight champion when he dropped a decision to champion Sergio Pettis at Bellator 297 in June.
