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A PFL fighter is frustrated with the promotion's ill-treatment and wants to come over to the UFC for high-profile matchups. Elsewhere, Jon Jones took a sarcastic jab at Colby Covington.
Here are today's top combat sports updates, presented by Sportskeeda MMA's News Roundup.
Patricio Pitbull wants out of PFL, eyes Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway
After Patchy Mix and Corey Anderson, Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire came out and expressed frustration about how poorly PFL has treated the Bellator roster after the high-profile merger of the two promotions. Among the complaints were accusations of lack of fight booking and unprecedented cancelation of scheduled fights, if any.
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During a recent appearance on Ariel Helwani's show, 'Pitbull' revealed what made him go public against his employers:
"The last straw was them canceling my fight... actually found out the change of opponents on the internet and then they said there would be no event. Things just kept piling up and I just said enough is enough."
He expressed disappointment over PFL changing Bellator's name and branding and requested founder-chairman Donn Davis for a "no strings attached" release. He added that he wants to fight names like Max Holloway, Ilia Topuria, Diego Lopes, and Alexander Volkanovski in the UFC.
Watch Patricio Pitbull's full conversation below:
Dana White was asked to comment on the matter at the UFC 310 post-event press conference. While he did not make any promises about the fighters interested in the PFL to UFC exodus, he maintained his disdain for the rival promotion and insinuated that they're "running out of money."
Francis Ngannou rumored to face the reigning GLORY champion
Francis Ngannou seemingly has one fight left on his MMA contract with the PFL after facing Renan Ferreira.
According to a Forbes report, his next opponent could be Rico Verhoeven, the reigning GLORY Kickboxing heavyweight champion. The fight will happen in the summer of 2025, as per the cited source, but both sides are currently in the discussion phase.
Verhoeve, nicknamed 'Prince of Kickboxing', has a 65-10 record in the sport and one win in as many outings in MMA. In October, Glory CEO Marshall offered the fight to the former UFC heavyweight champion on Ariel Helwani's show. Verhoeven himself showed interest in the fight, labeling it a contest that "must happen" at some point.
Jon Jones gives sarcastic reaction to Colby Covington's UFC Tampa excuse
In a video uploaded on his YouTube channel, Colby Covington addressed his doctor's stoppage TKO loss to Joaquin Buckley at UFC Tampa. He blamed the doctor for halting the fight too early and claimed he was just getting started with his game plan.
Later on in the video, he blamed campaigning efforts for President-elect Donald Trump as the reason behind an inadequate training camp, which he claimed led to the defeat.
Jon Jones, who has a history with Covington going back to their younger days at Iowa Central Community College, mocked 'Chaos' claim on X:
"Big shoutout to Colby Covington for skipping training to get President Trump 'ready' - we all appreciate the sacrifice. At least he got to see me win."
