Can Patricio Pitbull get the job carried out in his UFC debut?
After notching 30 fights below the Bellator MMA banner and capturing a number of world titles with the promotion, Pitbull will make his long-awaited Octagon debut this Saturday evening at UFC 314 in Miami. There, the previous two-division titleholder will meet ex-interim champ Yair Rodriguez in a combat that might produce the following featherweight title challenger.
As thrilling as it’s to lastly see Pitbull make the stroll to the Octagon, the actual fact stays that he’s a number of quick months away from turning 38 years, leaving many, together with former middleweight king Michael Bisping, to wonder if or not Pitbull can nonetheless compete among the many greatest blended martial artists on the earth.
“Can the outdated man get it carried out? Patricio Pitbull, 37 years outdated coming over from Bellator, the place I feel he was a four-time champion,” Bisping mentioned on his YouTube channel. “Largest win most likely (was) when he knocked out ‘Iron’ Mike Chandler within the very first spherical, vicious proper hand. He’s obtained good jiu-jitsu, however he’s 37 years outdated. There’s lots of put on and tear, there’s lots of miles on the clock, and that’s not stunning if you take a look at the quantity of expertise.
“Forty-three skilled fights, 36 wins, seven losses, however he has been knocked out twice. Nevertheless, if you’ve fought that many occasions, there’s no drawback with that. After all, he’ll be taking over the one and solely Yair Rodriguez, one in every of Mexico’s most interesting. This man is to not be underestimated. He fought for the belt earlier than in opposition to Alexander Volkanovski, didn’t go his means, obtained stopped within the third spherical, after which he obtained stopped once more in opposition to Brian Ortega. He’s making an attempt to show is he nonetheless related within the division” (h/t MMA Junkie).
May Patricio Pitbull leap to the entrance of the road with a win at UFC 314?
With Ilia Topuria’s sudden departure from the division and no clear contender for the winner of Saturday’s featherweight title tilt between Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes, ‘The Depend’ believes that the winner of Pitbull vs. Rodriguez might produce the rising champion’s subsequent challenger.
“Are both of those guys going to be the following man to combat for the featherweight strap as a result of guess what? That’s what’s at stake right here,” Bisping continued. “One among these guys is perhaps the following individual to combat for the belt as a result of Volkanovski needs to be energetic — that’s if he will get the job carried out.”
Pitbull goes into his promotional premiere having gone 1-2 in his final three outings, together with back-to-back losses in opposition to Sergio Pettis and Chihiro Suzuki. Pitbull obtained again into the win column in March through a third-round TKO over Jeremy Kennedy at Bellator Champions Sequence 1 in Belfast.
