Following the news that the Bellator brand is set to cease to exist under the PFL banner, one of the biggest names in the history of the promotion has now parted ways.
Patrício Pitbull has been asking to be released by the PFL for several weeks and following an announcement from Donn Davis, the news is now official.
The PFL founder posted on X that Pitbull has been released from his contract after he has been very outspoken about wanting to fight elsewhere rather than staying on the promotion's roster.
"We are releasing @PatricioPitbull," Davis wrote. "PFL is all about opportunity. I founded this company to create new great opportunities for top fighters. PFL has and will continue to do that for all top fighters who want to be here."
The 37-year old leaves the promotion as the current holder of the Bellator featherweight title having last defended the belt in March last year where he stopped Jeremy Kennedy in the third round.
His brother, Patricky Pitbull, is seemingly still with the promotion after competing in last year's regular season where he was eliminated following back-to-back defeats.
Patrício fought 30 times under the Bellator banner and through multiple title reigns, he became one of the faces of the promotion.
The Brazilian recorded iconic victories over the likes of Daniel Straus, Daniel Weichel, Emmanuel Sanchez, Michael Chandler, Juan Archuleta and Pedro Carvahlo during his second title reign which was arguably his peak in the promotion.
That run came to an end in back-to-back fights with AJ McKee where after being submitted in the first round in their initial encounter, he reclaimed the title by beating McKee in the rematch via a unanimous decision.
The former two-weight champion will be the life-long holder of multiple Bellator records including most fights, most wins, most finishes and most title fights.
Having spoken about wanting to fight in the UFC before he retires, Pitbull tagged the former UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski in a social media post once the news was made official.
