New Orleans — Coming off his first victory under the UFC banner, former Bellator MMA double champ (featherweight and lightweight) Patricio Pitbull knows he can do better.
Like his promotional debut in April against Yair Rodriguez, Pitbull (37-8) looked to be having a slow start at UFC 318 on Saturday, until he erupted in the second round. Ultimately, he earned a unanimous decision win over Dan Ige to improve to 1-1 under the UFC banner.
“I’m feeling good. I’m happy. But I know I can do better,” Pitbull told media outlets including Cageside Press following his fight at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. “Much respect to my opponent, he’s a very tough guy. I just want to think about the next time.”
Ige, Pitbull’s opponent on Saturday, has never been knocked out, and that didn’t change after another 15 minutes inside the octagon. “He’s like I was thinking,” said Pitbull, when asked about Ige perhaps being tougher than he’d expected. “He’s very good, but I’m better. I proved it today.”
As for the difference between Saturday night and his debut against Yair Rodriguez, “I won the fight,” the Brazilian said simply. He would go on to elaborate, however, that he still wasn’t entirely satisfied.
“I’m not very happy now. I’m not very happy. Because I know I can do better. I was with a little pressure on my shoulders. I came from defeat, I lost the April fight to Yair. He’s very good, he was a former champion but I know I’m better than these guys.”
Pitbull is still recovering from cervical spine surgery to repair herniated discs in his neck, and there’s some thought that he hasn’t returned to his old self just yet. That’s a sentiment the former Bellator star agreed with.
“When I do some shots on somebody’s head, I used to put everyone to seep. Now you saw, it’s different,” he stated. “I know Ige, he’s very tough, he was never knocked out. But I know my full power, and it’s not my full power.”
So what comes next for the 38-year old, who has a very short window in the UFC? “I just want Aaron Pico,” he said. Pico was supposed to fight Movsar Evloev next weekend in the co-main event of UFC Abu Dhabi, only for Evloev to withdraw. Now, Pico is campaigning for the bout to be rebooked at UFC 319 next month.
“It’s not necessary. He can make his debut in the UFC again me. Now I’m a veteran,” Pitbull exclaimed.
The Brazilian also addressed what makes the fighters from his hometown of Natal so tough. “The northeast of Brazil, you’re already born in hardship. It’s the poorest part of Brazil, there’s not much there. So everyone has to battle, everyone has to battle just to survive. When you get an athlete from that region, they’re just extra tough.”
As for his age, he dismissed it as a factor in his fights. “I can do things that a young guy can’t. My discipline is the difference.”
Watch the full UFC 318 post-fight press conference appearance by Patricio Pitbull above.
