According to the announcement from the MMA PFL, they will restructure the organization in 2025. One of the first PFL applicable is to simplify the competition system. Accordingly, PFL's competition system remains the same as before, but Bellator is officially wiped out.
Bellator MMA was founded in 2008 by Bjorn Rebney. 3 years later, Bjorn Rebney sold the tournament to Paramount Global. This is also the time to witness Bellator reaching out to become the world's leading MMA tournament, when they own many UFC championships later.
Bellator MMA is highly appreciated for its professional and talented fighters. But in terms of business efficiency, this tournament continuously has results under expectations. This is also the reason why Paramount Global decided to resell Bellator to PFL in November 2023.
At the time when PFL bought Bellator, they kept the competition system, as well as the champions of this tournament. PFL only organized a number of events combined with Bellator in 2024. But in early 2025, they officially wiped out the tournament so that PFL completely dominated market share.
The way PFL applies to Bellator is common in the international MMA world. In the past, this is also the way UFC applies to gain market share No. 1 in the TV segment paying for general martial arts. They used to buy the most popular tournament system in the period of 2004-2006, Pride, then immediately stop working.