Patricio Pitbull: Michael Chandler and Eddie Alvarez success showing the “power of Bellator”

Patricio Pitbull says that the success of Michael Chandler and Eddie Alvarez in the UFC is showing the “power of Bellator.”

Chandler had an amazing UFC debut last weekend at UFC 257 when he brutally knocked out the typically-durable Dan Hooker with punches in the first round. Heading into the UFC, there were many question marks about the former three-time Bellator lightweight champion, but Chandler’s win over Hooker showed that he is an elite fighter. And if you think Chandler is good, just remember Pitbull knocked him out in June 2019. Both men are proof Bellator is home to some of the sport’s elite.

In addition to Chandler, Eddie Alvarez is another former Bellator champion who succeeded in the UFC, even winning the lightweight title in 2016. Between Alvarez and Chandler, they are showing that Bellator’s best fighters can hang with the UFC’s. And even though Pitbull doesn’t like him, the Brazilian can’t help but give Chandler –and Alvarez — a little bit of credit for showing, as he says, the “power of Bellator.”

“Everybody knows that I don’t like Chandler, and I don’t cheer for him. But he is showing — like Eddie Alvarez did — the power of Bellator,” Pitbull told Sherdog.com’s Marcelo Alonso.

Pitbull is the Bellator featherweight and lightweight champion. He is currently awaiting his next date in the Bellator cage against Emmanuel Sanchez in a featherweight tournament semifinal. A win over Sanchez will set him up for a big fight against undefeated prospect AJ McKee in the finale of the Grand Prix.

But while Pitbull is having plenty of success in the Octagon, don’t expect him to join Chandler and Alvarez as former Bellator champions in the UFC anytime soon. A source close to the Pitbull camp confirmed he still has “a few” fights left on his Bellator contract. But in this sport, you can never know what happens in the future.

Do you think Patricio Pitbull will ever join Michael Chandler in the UFC or do you think he will continue to cement his legacy in Bellator?