Former Bellator two-division champion Patricio Pitbull finally made his UFC debut at the age of 37 last weekend, but after suffering a unanimous decision defeat to Yair Rodriguez he’s admitted that he didn’t fight to the best of his abilities.
“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.”
And Pitbull has vowed that he won’t make the same mistake next time out.
“Now that I’m no longer the champion I have to hunt my opponents,” Pitbull stated. “That’s exactly what I’m going to do in my next fights. I have to do it, and I’ll do it.”
And Pitbull is already looking ahead to who his next opponent might be, including asking his fans on social media, who came back with suggestions like Dan Ige, Josh Emmett, Aljamain Sterling and Diego Lopes.
“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.”
