“My career deserves a move,” Bellator legend Patricio Pitbull eyes signing with UFC before his performance begins to drop

Patricio Pitbull of Bellator hopes to sign with the UFC as new deal looms in the distance.

“My career deserves a move,” Bellator legend Patricio Pitbull eyes signing with UFC before his performance begins to drop

Patricio Pitbull on joining UFC; (Source: Instagram/IMAGO)

Patricio Pitbull is considering a move away from Bellator with whom he has been since 2010. This depends on the sale of Bellator to the Professional Fighters League (PFL). There are several active negotiations between Bellator and PFL for a potential acquisition. Pitbull has expressed his interest in signing up with UFC in case the acquisition goes through. Fortunately, he has reassured Bellator that he will honor his current contract before making a move to the UFC.

“I’m 36 years old and hold so many records in the organization I love,” said Pitbull, in the MMA Fighting’s Trocação Franca podcast. “It really looks like Bellator will get bought by another organization. I’ll complete my deal and see which offer we have on the table, but I think my career deserves a move to the UFC, especially knowing that if I leave as the Bellator and PFL champion we would be close to doing a big fight right off the bat in this organization.” [H/T MMA Fighting]

https://youtu.be/-GC9dDVPXY0?si=uTwZ0WZjDDwuP6SX

Pitbull is a former two-weight Bellator champion within the promotion. He has already served as a featherweight titleholder and was formerly a lightweight champion. His career highlights include successful tourneys with Michael Chandler, AJ McKee, and more. Pitbull didn’t manage to live up to a third titular attempt and faced a first-round knockout. Prior to that, Pitbull had also lost a Bantamweight title fight to Sergio Pettis in June, via decision. These losses were preceded by a three-win streak.

Pitbull has been out of commission for a while, since a bout with Chihiro Suzuki in July. He underwent a minor surgery on his cervical spine to repair a herniated disc. Now fully recovered, he was eying to stretch his legacy and salvage his two-fight loss streak. Recently, UFC CEO Dana White has laughed at the notion of signing him at a $500 Million valuation. Pitbull responded to White’s dismissal of his alleged value by chalking it off as a business tactic. Moreover, he remains hopeful of joining the UFC if an acquisition goes through.

Related: Patricio Pitbull requests donations to assist a fellow fighter who was involved in a car accident

Fans react to Super RIZIN 2 Patricio Pitbull Vs. Chihiro Suzuki

Chihiro Suzuki was automatically and unanimously considered the star of the night after defeating Bellator champion Patricio Pitbull this past July. In what is considered the biggest upset in the history of the promotion, Suzuki shocked the MMA world with a first-round knockout of Pitbull at Super RIZIN 2. Accordingly, fans have reacted vigorously over it.

Patricio Pitbull
Patricio Pitbull (Source: Instagram)

Pitbull and Suzuki agreed to a lightweight matchup with just a week’s notice. This had left many fans dejected. Subsequently, Pitbull was knocked out with two devastating right hands. As a result, Suzuki now has a seven-fight undefeated streak, with his loss to Kleber Koike seeing an overturn to a no-contest because of missing weight.

Currently, Pitbull is looking forward to continuing his legacy and has expressed interest in joining the UFC. He has mentioned that he does this with a heavy heart, as he is loyal to his own promotion. But he feels his career deserves to see more. Hence, he thinks of the UFC as his next venture. He is eying a title fight against UFC’s current 145-pound champion, Alexander Volkanovski, who he hopes will remain champion until his arrival.

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