Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull will face 2023 PFL featherweight season winner Jesus Pinedo at the upcoming pay-per-view show in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 24, but it remains to be seen if Pitbull will be part of the PFL regular season going forward.
Pitbull told MMA Fighting’s Trocação Franca podcast he prefers to defend his 145-pound Bellator championship, since it was announced that Bellator will continue to run as an international brand with title bouts on all cards. Plus, he doesn’t like two things about the PFL.
“I know what’s happening now is something huge, Bellator and PFL have merged, but, as a Bellator fan, Bellator feels different,” Pitbull said. “You go to an arena to watch Bellator, you see 25,000 people, you see a long line of fans entering the arena, you see people screaming. At the PFL, what I saw was a studio. It doesn’t excite me to fight on that format.
“I don’t know how it’s going to be going forward, if they’re taking the knowhow from Bellator and doing PFL events the same way. I’m seeing more marketing about it, you can clearly see the difference, but PFL is not what Bellator used to be. They have to show me, because I haven’t seen it yet.
“I was invited to go to the PFL, and it has great structure,” he continued. “I’ve never seen anything like that. The corners had LEDs, something completely futuristic, but in a small venue, like if it was a TV show. I’m not used to that. I want to wait and see what will happen. I’d rather stay with Bellator.”
The other thing that bothers Pitbull about the way PFL conducts its matchmaking is the format season and scoring system. The playoffs for the million-dollar prize are defined based on who scored more points during the regular season, but level of opposition doesn’t come into play.
“If you finish someone in the first round, second, third, that’s [six, five or four] points. If you win a decision, it’s [three] points,” Pitbull said. “But, let’s say I fight a former world champion and win a three-round war, and someone else knocks out a nobody in the first round, he’s advancing and I’m not. That confuses me. It’s a clear critic I make about the way PFL does the season. To me, that’s bullsht. It’s unfair. It doesn’t make any sense to me because you fight a tough opponent and the other guy fought an easy opponent and got the finish, and you don’t advance because of points. It’s sht.”
Pitbull said his contract is nearing its end, but it won’t be completed in 2024. The champion clause might extend it, too, so he wants to wait and see what’s on the table before he decides his future. Pitbull said he’s still open to going to the UFC if it makes sense, but likes what he’s heard from PFL founder Donn Davis.
“He looks like a kid with a new toy,” Pitbull said. “He’s very excited. I like it. I’ve met him once and we spoke for at least an hour, more than I’ve ever spoken with [former Bellator president] Scott Coker all these years. I’ve always had a friendly relationship with Scott Coker but it was always a two, three-minute conversation. [Davis] seemed excited, hopeful, with lots of plans and ideas. He really seems like a kid with a new toy, and I like that. He knows he has to operate with two brands, and the challenge is different.”**