The words, “another organization,” have been spoken increasingly frequently around the UFC and on UFC broadcasts recently.
They are UFC code for Bellator, a not-so-subtle way of ignoring the competition.
The Professional Fighters League acquired Bellator from Paramount in November 2023, adding a slew of talent to its roster. But it’s become obvious now that PFL management had no plan to integrate the Bellator fighters into their roster at the time of the acquisition.
And so, an untenable situation for fighters with short careers began to play out:• The fighters sat on the sidelines.
• They took to social media pleading for a fight.
• At first, they were ignored.
• As time passed and pressured increased, many of them were released and signed with the UFC.
It’s led to a growing stream of Bellator fighters crossing over to the UFC, with top names like Patchy Mix, Johnny Eblen, and Corey Anderson still pleading for work, and reports connecting them to the UFC.
On Tuesday, the UFC inked former Bellator wunderkind Aaron Pico.
Pico is expected to make his UFC debut in a month or so, though not against No. 4 featherweight Movsar Evloev as was originally considered. Pico has won nine of his last 10 but set a goal of winning a UFC title and said he refused to fight for PFL any more. He said he would sit out until he was fully free.
PFL released him and he quickly agreed to terms with the UFC.
That leads to the big one. On Saturday on the main card of UFC 314 in Miami, perhaps the greatest ever from that other organization will debut.
Patricio “Pitbull” Freire will make his first UFC appearance when he takes on former interim champion Yair Rodriguez at the Kaseya Center.
Among the pound-for-pound best in MMA, Freire is arguably the greatest fighter in Bellator history.
He is a former featherweight and lightweight champion and lost a bid for a history-making third divisional crown when he dropped a decision to Sergio Pettis for its bantamweight title in 2023.
He openly pleaded for his release from the PFL when it wasn’t using him and finally got his wish two months ago when he was set free.
“The relationship didn’t work,” Freire said of his position with PFL management.
He fought once for the PFL, on Bellator Champions Series 1 against Jeremy Kennedy in Northern Ireland, but though there were whispers later in the year of a title defense against Pico, nothing turned up.
For a fighter nearing the twilight of his legendary MMA career, being sidelined any longer after a year out of action was not an option.
Freire turns 38 in July, and even the most optimistic Pitbull fans would concede his UFC career won’t be lengthy, as elite 40-year-old featherweights are as rare as Cleveland Browns’ Super Bowl victories.
Ever since it acquired the assets of the PRIDE Fighting Championships in 2007 and the organization went under, the UFC has been the unquestioned king in MMA.
While there occasionally have been elite fighters in other organizations — there’s that phrase, again — it was the UFC’s depth that set it off.
By adding Michael Chandler, Michael “Venom” Page, Freire and Pico and potentially others like Ryan Bader, Mix, and Anderson, the UFC is beefing up its roster depth.
It’s showing its belief in Freire by having him debut against the fifth-ranked Rodriguez, who defeated Josh Emmett at UFC 284 for the interim featherweight title.
Courtesy PFL
Patricio "Pitbull" Freire is 36-7 and has held featherweight and lightweight titles in Bellator.
A win would make him an instant title contender.
He had to sweat it out, though, to see if the UFC was interested. It seemed a no-brainer looking simply at his history, but White often says during the Contender Series, “I’m not looking for 30-year-old contenders.”
Freire is nearly 38 and he’d lost two of his last three. There were extenuating circumstances that explained those defeats, but given he didn’t have a relationship with the organization, he didn’t know for sure if White and the UFC brass would understand.
“No 30-year-old fighter has the track record I do, and also, with my age comes a lot of experience, a lot of accomplishments and they were what made this deal come through,” Freire said.
He made a bid to win the Bellator bantamweight title on June 16, 2023. He went into the fight with a significant injury, and he was facing what he referred to as “an extreme weight cut.”
He didn’t perform as he hoped, and then six weeks later, fought again at lightweight. He took the bout on four days’ notice, still not having had the required surgery performed.
He said he’d do it all over again given the choice.
“I don’t regret it a single bit,” he said of the losses. “I dared to be great. It was a very drastic weight cut to get to 135and I didn’t perform at my best. The injury also impacted me. I went to Japan to corner my brother a couple of weeks later and on four days’ notice, I wound up fighting at lightweight. I hadn’t treated the injury and I wasn’t training.
“I’m a real fighter. If I have an opportunity, I’m going to say yes. because that’s the kind of fighter and person I am. And to be honest, I think that’s what netted me this contract.”
Freire’s path to the UFC is a testament to his perseverance and self-belief, even when the odds seemed insurmountable. The UFC has long been home to MMA’s elite, but the influx of top-tier fighters from Bellator is only raising the stakes for both the athletes and fans who crave high-level competition.
The question now isn’t whether Pitbull has the skills to compete in the UFC — he’s proven that time and again. It’s whether, at nearly 38 and coming off surgery, he can summon the greatness that has defined his career.
Many UFC fans may be unfamiliar with his history, but the fight with Rodriguez offers Freire the perfect stage to remind the world what he’s capable of doing.
For years, fighters from outside the UFC have said, “Most of the best fight in the UFC, but not all of the best.”
With this fight, Pitbull has his chance to prove that. A win over Rodriguez would cement his place among the top fighters in the world and silence any doubts about his ability to still compete at the highest level.
Freire’s chance arrives Saturday to showcase his skills in front of the biggest audience of his career. The UFC is showing respect for his legacy by matching him up with a top contender. Now, it’s time for Freire to prove why he’s always belonged in the conversation of the best.
On Saturday, he won’t just be fighting for a win over Rodriguez; he’ll be fighting to validate a career's worth of excellence on the sport's biggest stage, proving that greatness transcends promotions, politics, and time itself.