Miami — Bellator legend Patricio Pitbull finally arrives in the UFC this Saturday, making his promotional debut at UFC 314 opposite Yair Rodriguez.
37-years young, Pitbull is among the most storied Bellator fighters, along with names like Eddie Alvarez and Michael Chandler.
“I am waiting for this moment all my career, so I’m very happy with that,” he said on Wednesday, appearing at his first ever UFC media day and asked all the obvious questions about arriving in his new home and trying on UFC gear for the first time.
Of course, had the PFL not badly managed its acquisition of Bellator MMA, Pitbull might never have made it to the UFC. The league picked up Bellator in late 2023, ran just five of eight announced Bellator events in 2024, then folded the promotion into the PFL proper earlier this year. The fallout was that several notable Bellator stars were benched, with the promotion failing to give them contracted fights. Pitbull, Cris Cyborg, Corey Anderson, and Aaron Pico were among those vocal about their displeasure with the PFL.
Brazil’s Pitbull, Pico, and Michael “Venom” Page, another Bellator star, are all now part of the UFC roster. Ryan Bader, the former Bellator light heavyweight and heavyweight champ, recently parted ways with the PFL as well.
As for Pitbull’s journey to the UFC, “I’ve always wanted to be here, but I never had the chance to really make it out there,” he told Cageside Press on Wednesday. “The reality of it is, while I was in Bellator, everything that we agreed on, everything was all done correctly and all my contracts were always getting extended because I’d be the champion or I’d win a tournament. So for as long as it was working out and the contract was being followed, I kept my word. Because nothing’s more important than my word and my honor.”
Things fell apart when the PFL took over, according to Pitbull. “Once the PFL bought them out, it just felt like they [PFL] weren’t honoring the contracts how I wanted. So I saw that was my opportunity to get out. But the fact of the matter is, I wish them success because the sport needs other organizations. Likely everyone wants to be over in the UFC, but the sport needs to survive through other organizations as well.”
Pitbull’s arrival in the UFC brings with it a wealth of opportunity, in the form of potential match-ups, and even a title shot. No spring chicken at 37, Pitbull is still a big name in MMA, one of the biggest outside the UFC for years. A convincing win Saturday and, depending on the outcome of Alexander Volknanovski vs. Diego Lopes later in the night, the Brazilian might just find himself as the next challenger.
Even if not, there are names like Pico, who somehow never crossed paths with the Bellator champion, Brian Ortega, Max Holloway— and of course Jose Aldo. Despite now competing as a bantamweight, Aldo is a name that fans have frequently expressed interest in seeing Patricio Pitbull fight.
Ditching his translator, Pitbull said of Aldo that “he was a champion for a long time like me, but I was in Bellator and he was in UFC. Now we are in the same organization. Maybe we can do that in Brazil. That’s not my desire, but if the UFC offered that fight to me, I would accept.”
One fight that likely won’t be happening is a rematch with Michael Chandler. In his own media appearance on Wednesday, Chandler revealed he’d spoken to Pitbull that very day, in an effort to squash the beef between himself and his fellow Bellator star. Chandler stated at that a fight between the two in the UFC wasn’t likely to happen; Pitbull revealed what was said between the pair.
“He apologized to me, he said that he said some harsh words, he was going through a rough moment in his life and said some harsh words after fighting me and fighting my brother [Patricky, also a former Bellator star]. So I accepted it. He had the honor to come and say that so I accepted it.”
Watch Patricio Pitbull’s full UFC 314 media day appearance above.
