Patricio Pitbull blasts PFL, Donn Davis, following league changes, Bellator closure

Patricio Pitbull is furious with Donn Davis and PFL after the league’s recent format changes and the end of the Bellator brand.

It’s been no secret that Pitbull’s relationship with Davis and his organization has become badly fractured, with the longtime face of Bellator publicly asking for his release on multiple occasions. Now, with PFL announcing changes to its season format and the closure of Bellator—which was acquired by PFL in November 2023—Pitbull has decided to go all in on slamming the league.

“Self-called co-leader in MMA and fighters first organization is cutting a bunch of fighters and forcing others to take pay cuts of up to 70 percent,” Pitbull wrote on Twitter, kicking off a series of comments. “No respect for fighter contracts and what they’ve accomplished.”

“The self-called fighters first organization is also changing its contracts so it’s almost impossible for fighters to be free agents and to leave on free agency,” he continued. “Also tying down fighters payments for many years and taking away all their leverage.”

“The self-called co-leader in MMA is ghosting some fighters/managers and leaving them with no answers while the owner makes silly and disrespectful posts on social media.”

Pitbull has been with Bellator since 2010 and over the past 15 years has established himself as the best fighter to compete under that banner. He is the reigning featherweight champion, having won the title three times, and also previously held Bellator lightweight gold.

Seeing the brand come to an end was a painful blow for the Brazilian veteran, who wrote that Bellator was “sabotaged by Viacom execs in its last years then sold to uncaring people that did their best to ruin it.”

Pitbull went on to claim that he’d recently spoken to Davis and PFL CEO Peter Murray, who he accuses of unfair business dealings.

“You wanna know why I’ve been silent for so long?” Pitbull wrote. “I had a direct chat with [Davis] and he said [Murray] would talk to us and we’d come to a 50-50 agreement, which turned out to be 100-0 stance in favor of PFL and them feeding media with fake news about my contract.”

“I’ve seen Donn’s tweets and had to hold myself not to react to them, but after Pete Murray started ghosting us since last week and the official death of Bellator, while hearing about how some fighters are being sent absurd, never-ending low-pay deals, I just couldn’t stay silent.”

See more tweets from Pitbull below, in which he implores PFL star Francis Ngannou to help him form a fighters union, points to the UFC’s release of Holly Holm as how to properly treat a veteran, breaks down in detail his issues with PFL contracts, and claims the league is holding his contract hostage.

UPDATE: Following Pitbull’s latest comments, Donn Davis announced the fighter has been granted his release.