Cris Cyborg has been one of the biggest stars associated with Bellator but has yet to fight for the promotion since it was bought out by the PFL. Since then, Cyborg has openly criticized promotional management while focusing on her combat sports career as a boxer.
Midway through 2024, Cyborg has yet to even have her next fight announced and critiqued the PFL on social media once more. This time, however, she was supported in her complaint by fellow Bellator champion Patricio Pitbull.
Patricio Pitbull Criticizes the PFL for Lack of Events
Only 8 Bellator events per year isn’t enough. @DonnDavisPFL everyone should be able to fight 2-3 times a year. https://t.co/k0ktgtoIsM
— Patricio Pitbull (@PatricioPitbull) July 2, 2024
Three months after his last defense of the Bellator featherweight championship, Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire voiced his frustration with a lack of challengers on X. Pitbull claimed he would constantly hear contenders calling his name in Bellator but since the merger with the PFL, hears nothing but “crickets.”
Women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg echoed his sentiment, causing Pitbull to follow up his complaint by tweeting at PFL founder Donn Davis and criticizing the promotion for their lack of annual events. The champion wrote:
Only 8 Bellator events per year isn’t enough. @DonnDavisPFL everyone should be able to fight 2-3 times a year.
Cris Cyborg Defends Patricio Pitbull’s Tweet
I am 39 years old in 7 days.
I have been healthy and asking both @PFLMMA and @BellatorMMA to promote a fight for me all year.
Oct 7th will be a full year without an MMA fight.
I just want to finish my career with fights. https://t.co/gFONlmnO7a
— CrisCyborg.Com (@criscyborg) July 2, 2024
Donn Davis did not publicly address the comments from the Patricio Pitbull, but the 36-year-old champion’s tweet was soon again backed by Cris Cyborg, who addressed her own concerns.
Cyborg tweeted:
I am 39 years old in seven days. I have been healthy and asking both @PFLMMA and @BellatorMMA to promote a fight for me all year. Oct. 7 will be a full year without an MMA fight. I just want to finish my career with fights.
The 27-2 featherweight champion last competed at Bellator 300, defending her belt with a first-round TKO win over Cat Zingano in the co-main event. Cyborg was then expected to defend her title against top contender Leah McCourt at a later date but did not ever see that fight scheduled.
Cris Cyborg’s Previous Complaints of the PFL
For almost as long as she has been under contract with them, Cris Cyborg has been critical of the PFL for their delay in booking her for a fight. After the PFL’s merger with Bellator late in 2023, the champion was eager about the opportunity to face longtime rival Kayla Harrison but was denied the opportunity when the former judoka signed with the UFC in free agency.
After shifting gears, Cyborg pushed to face defending PFL champion Larissa Pacheco but grew impatient with the promotion’s lack of urgency on that matchup as well. In January, Cyborg’s frustration grew to the point where she cryptically tweeted a slight of her employer, saying that she was “starting to understand” why Harrison left the promotion in favor of the UFC.
PFL Complaints From Other Fighters
Since the PFL purchased the rights of Bellator, the promotion has received complaints about their operations from fighters beyond Cris Cyborg and Patricio Pitbull. In early 2024, the front office was also the subject of criticism from former Bellator champion Gegard Mousasi, who accused the company of being unable to fulfill the contract of its fighters and called them the worst promotion he has ever been a part of.
The PFL responded by announcing that they had released Mousasi just days after he put the organization on blast in May. The 38-year-old ended his promotional run with consecutive losses to Johnny Eblen and Fabian Edwards and remains a free agent as of July 3.
Troubles with the PFL and its public image have extended beyond just its own fighters, with UFC athletes joining in and calling out the promotion. In an interview on The MMA Hour, former interim champion Dustin Poirier told host Ariel Helwani that the PFL had not fulfilled their promise of reimbursing his teammate, Sabah Homasi, for his required surgery after competing at Bellator 299.
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