Patricio Pitbull has a key fight in front of him this weekend in New Orleans, and that’s why he’s decided to prepare for it in a unique way.
This past April, the former Bellator two-division champion debuted in the UFC with a possible title shot on the line but suffered a disappointing loss to Yair Rodriguez. Now, with a lot on the line after many years of expectations, Pitbull has decided to leave home and “isolate” in a house in Natal, Brazil, surrounded only by coaches and training partners “to better concentrate for the fight” with Dan Ige at UFC 318, which goes down Saturday.
Pitbull even forgot his birthday, a day after he spoke with MMA Fighting.
“I was very distracted,” Pitbull said. “I think the camp had some interferences from personal situations so I decided to isolate myself and leave it all for later. Kind of a pause from social life and problems, mainly.”
The routine in Natal was pretty much wake up, train, recover and train again. In between sessions, he would get trainers together and watch tape of Ige to add new things to the next practice.
The reason for all that change and concentration, he explained, is simple.
“I can’t lose. That’s the reason,” Pitbull said. “Anything that took my focus away, even for a few minutes, I decided to leave behind. My oldest son comes here and visits me, and that’s because he already trains and behaves himself. The younger one, I meet him a few times during the week with his mother, but only for a few moments. When it’s time to train, rest, lunch, I’m isolated. I don’t have access to part of my family. The great motivation is not to lose the next fight.
“I debuted in the UFC, an organization that we’ve aimed to be part of for many years, and there was a great expectation around that,” he continued. “Yair Rodriguez is not a random guy, he’s a top 5, he was an interim champion before and was going to fight [Alexander] Volkanovski again. It won’t be possible because he’s having surgery. But anyway, that’s for myself. I didn’t like to debut with a loss. It sadly happened. What I can do now is look ahead and take my next step. My next step is this fight, and me doing what’s in my hands. To shield myself from information from outside the camp, let’s put it this way. Everything that gets to me is filtered.”
Pitbull wasn’t happy with his performance in Miami, and he feels Ige’s fighting style will result in a more exciting showing from both athletes. During a 24-6 stretch with Bellator, Pitbull scored 14 finishes and won titles at featherweight and lightweight. Six of Ige’s 11 octagon wins have come via stoppage.
“I think he’s the gatekeeper of the division, he separates the good from the great,” Pitbull said, “So I really need to put on an above average performance against him, He was never knocked out or submitted before, he’s tough and comes forward at all times, so he will definitely turn on the switch of the violent Pitbull.”
