Patricio Pitbull follows up on request for Bellator release, tells Donn Davis, ‘I want to leave right away’
Patricio Pitbull has a clear message for PFL boss Donn Davis.
“I want to leave right away,” Pitbull told Davis in a social media exchange Thursday. This comes on the heels of Pitbull publicly demanding to be released from his Bellator contract earlier this month. The 37-year-old is currently in his third reign as featherweight champion of Bellator, which was acquired by PFL in November 2023.
Pitbull’s lates comments were in response to Davis addressing the growing discontent from notable Bellator fighters that have complained about inactivity since their promotion fell under Davis and company’s jurisdiction. Fellow Bellator champion Patchy Mix also publicly stated he would like to become a free agent.
Davis tweeted that his team did their best in 2024 to book fights for the Bellator roster, which didn’t change Pitbull’s mind as he replied with a pair of tweets saying he wanted to have the situation resolved this week.
See the exchange below.
PFL has ALWAYS provided all fighters 2 fights a year …
— Donn Davis (@DonnDavisPFL) December 19, 2024
When we acquired Bellator THEY had ZERO fight events scheduled for their Bellator 210 fighters in 2024.@PFLMMA stepped in and did best we could for them in 2024 …
2025 ALL fighters again 2️⃣ fights a year! #PFL
PFL has ALWAYS provided all fighters 2 fights a year …
When we acquired Bellator THEY had ZERO fight events scheduled for their Bellator 210 fighters in 2024.
@PFLMMA stepped in and did best we could for them in 2024 …
2025 ALL fighters again 2️⃣ fights a year!
Bellator is PFL’s property, many fighters didn’t fight a single time and many like me only fought once.
— Patricio Pitbull (@PatricioPitbull) December 19, 2024
You said you’d honor everyone’s contracts and give them
2 fights this year. You didn’t. You cut over 70% of the roster and had many renegotiate their pay. (1/2) https://t.co/Zvx4NS45H8
As far as PFL providing everyone 2 fights this year, I really hope that’s what’s gonna happen and not because many more will be cut.
— Patricio Pitbull (@PatricioPitbull) December 19, 2024
I want PFL to succeed, it’s good for the sport and for fighters.
That said, I want to leave right away. Can we agree to it this week? (2/2) https://t.co/Zvx4NS45H8
Bellator is PFL’s property, many fighters didn’t fight a single time and many like me only fought once.
You said you’d honor everyone’s contracts and give them 2 fights this year. You didn’t. You cut over 70% of the roster and had many renegotiate their pay.
As far as PFL providing everyone 2 fights this year, I really hope that’s what’s gonna happen and not because many more will be cut.
I want PFL to succeed, it’s good for the sport and for fighters.
That said, I want to leave right away. Can we agree to it this week?
Pitbull most recently fought this past March at a Bellator event in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where he successfully defended the featherweight title against Jeremy Kennedy via third-round knockout. He is widely regarded as the face of Bellator and arguably the greatest fighter to ever compete for the promotion.
As part of his recent comments, Pitbull stated he wants the chance to finally test himself in the UFC octagon. UFC CEO Dana White was asked about Pitbull while speaking to the media after UFC 310 and while he didn’t mention having interest in any specific names, he speculated that PFL and Bellator could be facing major difficulties.
“Listen, the last couple months we’ve been talking a lot about the PFL,” White said. “They’re cancelling a lot of shows. I know that a lot of guys that are supposed to fight aren’t fighting. You guys know what the f*ck’s going on.
“When you see that start to happen, you’re running out of money. Things aren’t looking good. You’re going to have people that want to jump ship.”