Patricio Freire is treating his UFC 331 fight with Doo Ho Choi like a contract negotiation with punches attached.
Freire, still better known to most fans as Patricio Pitbull, said his September 19 bout with Choi at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles is the final fight on his current UFC deal. That makes the matchup more than a featherweight scrap between two action names. It is a job interview under bright lights, with a former Bellator king trying to prove he still belongs in the UFC after a rocky first stretch.
Freire said the deal situation came up during a Home of Fight interview, where he was asked if the Choi fight was the last one on his contract. His answer was short and pretty much impossible to misread.
Patricio “Pitbull” reveals his fight with Choi Doo-ho at UFC 331 is the final bout on his contract but hopes to re-sign with the UFC after a big win.
“This is the last [fight] on my contract right now I believe.
I’m going to win my fight and get a new contract, that’s the…” pic.twitter.com/csb5aFfSNS
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) August 23, 2026
Patricio Pitbull Wants To Stay In The UFC
Freire was then asked whether he wanted to remain with the UFC or look at other options once the deal is up. He did not dance around it.
“I think this is the last one,” Freire said. “I want to stay [in the UFC]. I’m going to win this fight and I’m going to renew the contract.”
That is the kind of confidence you expect from a guy who spent years as one of Bellator’s signature names. Freire is 37-9 and built a ridiculous championship run outside the UFC before finally crossing over. The problem is that the UFC has been a meat grinder so far. He lost his Octagon debut to Yair Rodriguez, bounced back with a decision over Dan Ige, then dropped a decision to Aaron Pico.
The wider Bellator-to-UFC jump has been messy too. Patrick Mix already washed out of the promotion, Michael Page has taken a freestyle detour, and Pico’s UFC run has already had its own turbulence. Freire is not some prospect getting a soft reset. He is 39, expensive by reputation, and fighting in a division where one bad night can turn into a pink slip conversation real fast.
Choi is not exactly a gentle landing spot either. The Korean Superboy brings a 17-4 record, fast hands, and the kind of willingness to trade that can make a fight fun and dangerous at the same time. If Freire wins, he gets a clean argument for a new UFC deal. If he loses, the promotion has a very easy business decision sitting right in front of it.
That is why the contract part matters here. Freire is not just trying to beat Choi at UFC 331 in Los Angeles. He is trying to show the UFC that there is still enough Pitbull left to keep feeding him ranked-level problems.
