Patricio “Pitbull” Freire took part in a Q&A on social media earlier today and a fan asked him about his current contract situation with Bellator. The former featherweight champion responded to the question by stating, “I have enough fights to destroy the top guys one more time.”
Following the Q&A session, a Bellator official confirmed to The MMA Report that Pitbull signed a contract extension with the promotion and the Brazilian fighter explained his decision to sign a new deal with the California based promotion in a statement sent to The MMA Report.
“I have a story in the organization,” Pitbull said. “I’m probably the fighter under contract who has been in the organization the longest and I received a pretty good offer. With this I was able to guarantee more than a year of high quality training for my whole team and I was finally able to buy myself a house and help my family right off the bat.”
“At Bellator I feel at home,” he continued. “People there treat me like family. It’s a great environment. I had my differences with the previous administration and we needed some adjustments with the new one in order to understand their project, but I believe in what they’re doing and I like it here.”
When Pitbull signed his contract extension with Bellator late last year, he still had two fights left on his previous contract. Some fans may wonder why Pitbull did not fight out his contract to see what other promotions would offer him.
“We got to an agreement that I couldn’t pass up,” Pitbull explained. “We know how much several of the top guys in the UFC make. I believe they’d make an offer as great as the one I got because I’m worth it and the division is on fire. They need new faces. And it’s more than what some of their high profile names make. But why wait two more fights and a few months to decide on it if I could have this money already and be in an environment where I’m already happy?”
“The only way it would make sense was if they’d give me PPV points from the start, but we know that’s not how they do things,” he continued. “The free agent process is interesting, but when you know the numbers and understand the business you can make decisions without going through it and not leave money on the table.”
Pitbull is scheduled to return to the Bellator cage next month at Bellator 153 when he will meet John Teixeira in the co-main event of the April 22 fight card coming from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.