Patricio Pitbull laments lack of urgency at UFC 314, names ideal opponents for next fight

Patricio Pitbull finished nearly half of his fights under the Bellator banner, building a record of 24-6 with 14 stoppages to across three reigns as featherweight champion in the now-defunct promotion. However, he wasn’t able to replicate that success in his long-awaited UFC debut.

The 37-year-old Brazilian lost a decision to Yair Rodriguez on the main card of UFC 314 this past Saturday and leaves Miami feeling he could have done better. Pitbull admitted the early portion of the fight was “boring,” lacking action on both sides, but Rodriguez ultimately deserved the nod.

“Maybe for spending many years fighting in five-round fights, I don’t know if my sense of urgency took too long to activate,” Pitbull told MMA Fighting. “It was my mistake not to start with the foot on the gas, but it’s understandable because that could have led to a mistake. I don’t like to make mistakes. I like to hit the target when I fire. In general, I could have done more, went for war, hunted him, but it’s too late to say. We could have done better.”

Pitbull said he didn’t feel octagon jitters in his first appearance inside the UFC octagon. In fact, he believes that could have been an issue since he was “too relaxed” that night. Used to having a winning record in Bellator, Pitbull vows to change the course of his UFC career.

“Now that I’m no longer the champion I have to hunt my opponents,” Pitbull said. “That’s exactly what I’m going to do in my next fights. I have to do it, and I’ll do it.”

Pitbull started a poll on his social media asking who should be his next opponent in the octagon, with Dan Ige outvoting Josh Emmett, Aljamain Sterling and Diego Lopes. Ige competed on the same night in Miami, scoring a controversial knockout of Sean Woodson in the third round in a bout that Ige was leading on the scorecards after two rounds.

“They’re all good names, and I think that’s going to be the next move. But I told the UFC to surprise me,” Pitbull said. “I wanted to debut with the right foot. Had I beat Yair Rodriguez, I’d definitely be in the top 5 now and people would be asking me about possibly being next for the belt. Now I have to look at the top 15. It’s a bit frustrating, but I understand that’s what needs to happen now.”