Last week, it was announced that the PFL and Patchy Mix (20-1) had mutually agreed to part ways. Mix is one of the best bantamweights in the world and he had been very vocal about his frustrations with the promotion ever since they acquired Bellator at the end of 2023. It didn’t take long at all for the UFC to swoop in and sign Mix. Over the weekend at UFC Vegas 106, it was announced on the broadcast that Mix had signed and would be making his debut in three weeks.
The PFL acquired Bellator and the entire message at the time was that they were combining to form a co-leading promotion with the UFC. The top-heavy Bellator talent would add to the growing pool of up and coming talent from the PFL. Like many in the space, I was very excited about the future of the promotion.
The Bellator acquisition was the icing on the cake after a massive year in 2023 for The Professional Fighters League. Earlier in the year, they signed influencer turned combat sports star Jake Paul to an exclusive contract. They also signed former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou to a contract. It felt like they had serious momentum entering 2024.
Bellator Gone Wrong
With all this momentum, the promotion really needed to hit the ground running in 2024 and that was their plan. They planned a champions versus champions card for February 2024. While there were some solid fights on the card, it just felt like the overall event fell a little flat and that’s where the issues started.
The plan for the PFL was to have the Bellator Champions Series and that would run alongside their traditional regular season. Instead of combining promotions and just putting on the best cards possible, they decided to run things separately and that ultimately created issues.
The cards were few and far between as the Bellator Champions Series only had five total events in 2024 and one to start the year in 2025. The event earlier this year was the final one as the Bellator Champions Series was officially put on the shelf. When the PFL acquired Bellator, they acquired big time champions like Patchy Mix, Patricio Pitbull, Corey Anderson, Jason Jackson, Usman Nurmagomedov, Ryan Bader, Johnny Eblen, Cris Cyborg, and Liz Carmouche.
While Eblen has been announced for the first PFL Champions Series event in July, there was so much inactivity from some of the best fighters that Bellator had. Patchy Mix only fought once in May 2024 and has since been released and signed with the UFC. Patricio Pitbull fought once in March 2024 and has since been released and signed with the UFC.
Corey Anderson fought on that same March 2024 card and we haven’t seen him since. Ryan Bader lost to Renan Ferreira on the PFL Versus Bellator card and never fought again. He’s parted ways with the promotion and signed with RIZIN. Cris Cyborg fought Larissa Pacheco last October and she’s only going to fight in MMA two more times before retiring.
Usman Nurmagomedov has fought twice and he’s likely going to have a rematch with Paul Hughes later this year. He’s been the one champion who has not fought in tournaments where it’s felt like he’s been used properly. Liz Carmouche and Jason Jackson have both been active but what has helped them is that they are both competing in this year’s World Tournament and Carmouche fought in the regular season last year.
PFL’s Fumble and Future
When PFL acquired the talent from Bellator, there were a few names that I thought they really needed to build around. Usman Nurmagomedov, Patchy Mix, Aaron Pico, and Johnny Eblen were four of the guys I thought could really be stars for the promotion. Two of those fighters have now been released and they have signed with the UFC while both are still in their prime. In the case of Pico, he might not even be there yet.
I could see Corey Anderson being released considering he hasn’t fought since March 2024 and he’s been very vocal about being shelved. Entering 2024, it really felt like the blueprint was right there for the promotion. Combine the two rosters and build the best cards possible. Sure, they were never going to be the UFC, but they could truly solidify themselves as the second best promotion in the world. They could’ve made themselves the UFC in the prime days of Pride or at least, it would’ve felt like that.
Right now, they might be number two by default, but the gap between them and the UFC is larger than the Grand Canyon. It feels like the gap has never been bigger and it just feels like there was a massive opportunity missed by the PFL. With the bigger stars seemingly on the way out, it makes me wonder what the future will be for the Professional Fighters League.
Instead of being an elite promotion that stands with the UFC, it feels like they are going to be looked at as a minor league promotion where once the stars develop, they will eventually leave for the UFC when they are free from their contracts.
Their fascination with being different with seasons and tournament formats has truly bitten them. Even homegrown star Dakota Ditcheva was recently voicing her frustrations as the lack of fights from the PFL. She’s fighting in July, but I find it hard to believe that she’ll fight again the rest of the year with the way things are going.
PFL is obviously committed to their format this year, but I really think they need to go back to the basics next year. Get rid of all the formats and just put on solid fight cards with the best possible talent. The UFC has become a global juggxrnaught for a reason.
There’s no reason to re-invent the wheel because if we’ve learned anything about promotions that try, we’ve learned that they always fail while Dana White sits back and laughs. I’m rooting hard for them because it’s so important for the sport to have another big promotion, but it just doesn’t feel like the future looks that bright at the moment.