PFL is not looking to keep fighters under contract against their will.

Earlier this week, PFL made waves announcing major changes to their organization but Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull remained disgruntled after calling out the promotion out and requesting his release. In response, PFL Founder and Chairman Donn Davis honored Pitbull’s request, giving him his unconditional release from the promotion. It’s a decision Davis explained while speaking to Mike Heck during a Town Hall session with MMA Fighting.

“Full respect for Pitbull,” Davis said. “Nobody’s done more for Bellator, the company we acquired than he did. You even saw that in our social media post. Most fights, most wins, biggest brand of a fighter in Bellator history. Total respect, point one.

“Total respect, point two, we wanted him here. So we were trying to work out a way for him to be here. Had he requested his release for several months? No. We were working on a way for him to be here for several months. But for several weeks had he said, ‘I don’t think it’s going to work out and I want to go’? Yes. So why did, ultimately, I do it? Because he didn’t want to be here.

“This is about opportunity. PFL is about opportunity. Opportunity for fans who want more MMA or different MMA. Opportunity for fighters who want a different way and a different approach from a different company. It’s opportunity, that’s all. We want people who want that opportunity. He said, ‘Look, I wouldn’t go anywhere other than the UFC. But can I have that opportunity?’ We said sure, done. Nothing more than that.”

However, Pitbull says this isn’t exactly how things played out. After Davis’s interview, Pitbull one again went on Twitter to respond to the PFL Chairman, giving his side of things.

“Hi [Donn Davis], let’s keep things true all the way. You never officially offered me the fight with [Aaron] Pico, and I never said no. Pete [Murray] told my management that Pico was the number one choice but he might be hitting free agency and if so you’d find someone else. Also…

“You never said ‘fight for us this one time and we will let you go.’ You said my 15 years in Bellator provided value for them and now you wanted me to provide value for PFL. And Pete said you’d exercise every legal right you guys had to prevent me from going to the competition.”

PFL acquired Bellator in 2023, with designs on becoming the “co-leader” in MMA along with the UFC, but its first year with Bellator fighters under contract was rocky. Though there were a few marquee events, Pitbull was not the only high-profile Bellator fighter to take issue with PFL.

Bellator champions Patchy Mix and Corey Anderson, among others, have spoken out about the lack of fights offered by their new promotion. But Davis says sometimes things are a little more complicated than they might seem.

“Most of these situations are gray, they’re not black and white,” Davis said. “So regarding Patchy, regarding any other fighter, we always want to resolve the situation. We always want to be happy. Fighters always want 10 fights a year and every fight to be $10 million. We consider all fighters together.

“Remember, my job is PFL. My job is to put on 30 great events a year. My job is to manage 250 fighters for the most success for the 250 fighters. That’s my job. In fact, that’s what fans kind of pay me to do, or else PFL won’t be successful. 30 events, 250 fighters, commercial success, and the best and most great fights we can. That’s the job of the chairman of PFL. So that’s what I try and do each and every hour of each and every day.

“The fighter’s job is to advocate for themselves. Top dollar, most fights, what they want today. Those are the dynamics. That’s always what’s going on. ... But specifically, we want every fighter here who wants to be here.”

And if a fighter doesn’t? Pitbull was granted his release, but what if more Bellator fighters ask to be let go so they can pursue greener pastures in the UFC?

Well, Davis certainly hopes it doesn’t come to that but stands by what he said.

“I believe yes [Patchy Mix will stay with PFL this year],” Davis said. “I think Patchy is going to be happy, I think Corey Anderson is going to be happy, I think fighters are going to be very, very happy. But once again, if they’re not, we’re going to help them get the solution they want that’s not here. This isn’t MMA prison camp, this is opportunity camp. So if fighters don’t want to be here and they believe they can do better elsewhere, it doesn’t help us to have them here. It doesn’t help us. We have a pipeline of incredible fighters. ...

“Patchy is a star. We love him. I want him here. Any other fighter, we want him here. Am I super confident that this noise is a blip and this noise will go away? I am. But might there be another fighter that is unhappy and wants to go? There might be and we’ll accommodate that.”