Patricio “Pitbull” Freire casually decided to spill the beans about his first fight shenanigans before UFC 314. He was given his full release from PFL on January 15 and then decided to commit to a month-long negotiation with UFC. The 36-7-0 veteran finally got his big chance with UFC and signed for a fight against Yair Rodriguez at UFC 314. However, the former Bellator 2 division champ revealed some big names of opponents he was happy to take on, but they refused to fight him. Who might they be?

The 37-year-old veteran spoke to Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman in Pound 4 Pound and spilled some names. He said, “UFC offered me a lot of guys, and all these guys were saying no to me, and I always say yes, I can fight him.” Cejudo had a sneaky smile while trying to coax out the names from the fighter, and he was successful!

Pitbull said, “Aljamain Sterling was the first. Yair Rodriguez was the second. The third option was to fight Steve Erceg as a replacement, but they said that the paperwork wouldn’t come in time for my visa, as it was a 12-day notice, and I had said yes. And then other names were brought up to me.”

He mentioned how some people inquired about the various fighters he could fight but prepared to stay mum. He continued, “But not the UFC, some people asked me, ‘Hey, are you fighting this guy?’ I heard from them, but as I didn’t hear any names from the UFC prefer not to say anything because I’m not sure.”

In fact, as per his revelations to MMA Fighting, he texted Rodriguez personally, taking a small jibe at him, talking about “Mexican pride”. Rodiguez replied that he would be pleased to welcome him into UFC, but when the promotion reached out to Rodiguez, he didn’t want the fight and asked for a ranked opponent.

Pitbull also stated he was happy at this stage of his career after finding success at Bellator. On top of that, he also mentioned that he was now been able to enter the largest organization against a top contender for a fight. 

But was Sterling pleased with what ‘Pitbull’ said about him?

Aljamain Sterling responded to Patricio Pitbull’s allegations

Aljamain Sterling was not silent when ‘Pitbull’ decided to spill the beans about him not accepting the fight. A fan reacted to what Pitbull said during his interview with MMA Fighting and declared that Funk Master deserved a ranked opponent.

Sterling replied to the fan’s comment, “Knock me for what? I agreed to fight Pitbull in April. As I’ve been away, and also while handling personal matters. I can’t take short-notice fights where I’m not ready anymore.”

According to Pitbull, the former UFC bantamweight champion was hesitant, but as per the former, the UFC had suddenly offered him the fight with Sterling. Did they ask ‘Funk Master,’ though?

Because, as per the 24-5-0 featherweight, he was dealing with some personal matters and could not take a short-notice fight. Sterling last fought at UFC 310 against Movsar Evloev, losing the bout via a unanimous decision. Despite asserting that he accepted a fight against ‘Pitbull’, Sterling has other ideas for his comeback to the cage.

His UFC 310 bout against Evloev was a close contest, so he thinks a rematch is in order, and the winner could earn a title shot. Do you think Dana White will grant Sterling’s wish? Do you think Pitbull is going to win his first fight at UFC? Share your thoughts in the comments below.