It's a damn shame that we never got to see Patricio Pitbull in the UFC

[Chael_Sonnen]

Patricio in my opinion is probably the second best fighter (outside of Fedor) that we never got to see in the UFC.

His run in Bellator was/is insane, and it's a damn shame we never got to see him fight the likes of Aldo, Holloway, Volk, Mendes, Conor, and test himself at 155 against whoever was the champ at the time.

Pitbull is slowing down dramatically, after a long career and a lot of fights and at 36, but he's still skating by on sheer talent and skill.

It's too late for him to come over to the UFC imo, he's too old and at probably gets paid more in Bellator than he ever would in the UFC.

What fights would you have liked to see and how do you think he would have done in his prime vs the top of the UFC 145?

 

[oldschoolmmafan]

The top of the UFC would have eaten him alive, throughout his career.

 

[Chael_Sonnen]

The top of the UFC would have eaten him alive, throughout his career.

He beat Chandler who has done pretty well against the elite of 155. What's your reasoning for thinking the top of 145 eats him? I mean obviously mma math doesn't work but I think it's a decent example of his skill.

 

[Davidjacksonjones]

Agreed, I have always wanted to see Pitbull in the UFC

 

[Danespina]

For sure. I'd call him the Bellator GOAT.

 

[Doctor Grudge]

He beat Chandler who has done pretty well against the elite of 155. What's your reasoning for thinking the top of 145 eats him? I mean obviously mma math doesn't work but I think it's a decent example of his skill.

Because he didn't fight in the UFC so clearly he can't be good!


It's pretty obvious Pitbull would have been a perennial contender. He likely would have beaten everyone except Volk and Max, and he'd be a hard fight for them.

 

[Chael_Sonnen]

Because he didn't fight in the UFC so clearly he can't be good!


It's pretty obvious Pitbull would have been a perennial contender. He likely would have beaten everyone except Volk and Max, and he'd be a hard fight for them.

Yeah agreed. I tend to think he matches up pretty well stylistically against both Max and Volk. Probably slightly better against Volk than Max though. Idk who wins those two fights but would have been interesting and close imo. Him vs Aldo would have been an absolute banger as well.

It's a shame that such a large portion of fans who only watch UFC think that if you didn't fight in the UFC, you can't have been good. It's been proven wrong over and over, with the strikeforce and WEC mergers, with guys like Chandler and Jiri and even MVP recently. Pitbull, especially with how long he's been at the top, in my opinion probably would have been champ at one point if he had fought his prime in the UFC.

Thanks for the response.

 

[tritestill]

Pitbull great fighter, still wish McKee comes over

 

[xhaydenx]

He beat Chandler who has done pretty well against the elite of 155.

Lol at Chandler having done well against the elite of 155.

Got finished by Charles and Dustin, and got smacked around by Chandler. He's only beaten the ghost of Tony and Hooker, who is not elite at all. Tony actually had him hurt too lol.

He's 0-3 against the elite of 155.

 

[Doctor Grudge]

Lol at Chandler having done well against the elite of 155.

Got finished by Charles and Dustin, and got smacked around by Chandler. He's only beaten the ghost of Tony and Hooker, who is not elite at all. Tony actually had him hurt too lol.

He's 0-3 against the elite of 155.

You mean he was in competitive fights against all 3 guys? You know what "done well" means, right?

He's currently 37 years old and was in fight of the year contenders with all 3 guys he lost to.

And he's not as good of a fighter as Pitbull...so do the math. If Chandler can be competitive with the elite (competitive doesn't mean he beats them), then obviously Pitbull is likely an elite fighter.


You basically just described someone who is a perennial top ten fighter in the UFC despite being past their prime.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

He'd have been a perennially high ranked guy for a long time with probably a couple of title shots under his belt imo. I don't see him getting the belt because Aldo, Max and Volk are all horrible style fights for him, but he'd have done very well.

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

He beat Chandler who has done pretty well against the elite of 155. What's your reasoning for thinking the top of 145 eats him? I mean obviously mma math doesn't work but I think it's a decent example of his skill.

Chandler is 2-3 in the UFC and his 2 wins are against Dan Hooker and a completely washed Tony Ferguson that Paddy Pimblett just beat the shit out of. i think Pitbull would've been an exciting addition to the UFC and he would've done well, but i don't know about the 2nd best fighter to never fight in the UFC.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Chandler is 2-3 in the UFC and his 2 wins are against Dan Hooker and a completely washed Tony Ferguson that Paddy Pimblett just beat the shit out of. i think Pitbull would've been an exciting addition to the UFC and he would've done well, but i don't know about the 2nd best fighter to never fight in the UFC.

I think he's probably up there tbf.

I can only think of Fedor who's clearly better.

Other than that I guess you could argue Igor. Maybe AAA, Mineev and Arona but they're probably not active enough. Filho maybe but he fell off pretty hard. Rumina had a lot of losses. Bibiano?

I feel he's probably 3rd at worst behind Fedor and Igor.

 

[xhaydenx]

You mean he was in competitive fights against all 3 guys? You know what "done well" means, right?

He's currently 37 years old and was in fight of the year contenders with all 3 guys he lost to.

And he's not as good of a fighter as Pitbull...so do the math. If Chandler can be competitive with the elite (competitive doesn't mean he beats them), then obviously Pitbull is likely an elite fighter.


You basically just described someone who is a perennial top ten fighter in the UFC despite being past their prime.

He had 1-2 good moments in each of those losses, but otherwise got his ass handed to him. That's not "doing well".

I didn't say Pitbull isn't likely an elite fighter. I'd agree that he is.

 

[andgonsil]

I think we will see Pitbull in UFC soon

 

[Chael_Sonnen]

Lol at Chandler having done well against the elite of 155.

Got finished by Charles and Dustin, and got smacked around by Chandler. He's only beaten the ghost of Tony and Hooker, who is not elite at all. Tony actually had him hurt too lol.

He's 0-3 against the elite of 155.

He dominated Oliveira for a round, he was 3 punches away from a stoppage and the LW strap. I'd say that's competitive (or "done pretty good" against the top of the division). Plus, he had Gaethje hurt real bad, and won the second round by a lot against Poirer. Again, I reckon what I said was accurate. If you just look at his record (3/2) then yeah I agree with you, but it's more complex than that. @Doctor Grudge said it well.

You mean he was in competitive fights against all 3 guys? You know what "done well" means, right?

He's currently 37 years old and was in fight of the year contenders with all 3 guys he lost to.

And he's not as good of a fighter as Pitbull...so do the math. If Chandler can be competitive with the elite (competitive doesn't mean he beats them), then obviously Pitbull is likely an elite fighter.


You basically just described someone who is a perennial top ten fighter in the UFC despite being past their prime.

Yeah ty you said that very well. Exactly what I meant.

He'd have been a perennially high ranked guy for a long time with probably a couple of title shots under his belt imo. I don't see him getting the belt because Aldo, Max and Volk are all horrible style fights for him, but he'd have done very well.

Hmm, disagree on the style matchups but yeah I agree he'd have been atleast a top contender and a few title shots. I think he matches up pretty well with Volk, I think Holloway is a worse matchup but still close and prime Aldo would have been a bad matchup but yeah. Thanks for the response.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

He dominated Oliveira for a round, he was 3 punches away from a stoppage and the LW strap. I'd say that's competitive (or "done pretty good" against the top of the division). Plus, he had Gaethje hurt real bad, and won the second round by a lot against Poirer. Again, I reckon what I said was accurate. If you just look at his record (3/2) then yeah I agree with you, but it's more complex than that. @Doctor Grudge said it well.

Yeah ty you said that very well. Exactly what I meant.

Hmm, disagree on the style matchups but yeah I agree he'd have been atleast a top contender and a few title shots. I think he matches up pretty well with Volk, I think Holloway is a worse matchup but still close and prime Aldo would have been a bad matchup but yeah. Thanks for the response.

I think Patricio likes slow paced technical striking fights where he can fend off takedowns where required and get ahead. I think we saw in the Sergio fight (granted he was past prime, but it was still very convincing) that someone who's also a technical striker but faster than him and higher volume is liable to cause him a problem.

 

[Chael_Sonnen]

He had 1-2 good moments in each of those losses, but otherwise got his ass handed to him. That's not "doing well".

I didn't say Pitbull isn't likely an elite fighter. I'd agree that he is.

He had more than 1/2 moments against Oliveira though. That's just disingenuous. Plus, he had a back and forth first round with Poirer, he hurt him badly in the first round (obviously then getting hurt badly in return) and then won the second with his grappling on all scorecards. Again, I reckon that's better than 1/2 good moments.

 

[Chael_Sonnen]

Chandler is 2-3 in the UFC and his 2 wins are against Dan Hooker and a completely washed Tony Ferguson that Paddy Pimblett just beat the shit out of. i think Pitbull would've been an exciting addition to the UFC and he would've done well, but i don't know about the 2nd best fighter to never fight in the UFC.

Chandler has been competitive in all his fights. Record doesn't tell the whole story and Pitbull beat him more easily than any of Gaethje/Poirer/Oliveira did.

Who would you put as a greater fighter record wise than Pitbull? Legit interested to hear some other names. I wasn't around in the Pride era so I could be wrong.

 

[VinceArch]

I think we will see Pitbull in UFC soon

How soon is soon? He just fought last week and didn't mention anything about leaving that I recall.