Sharing before the media, Mr. Donn Davis, President of PFL said the tournament bought Bellator MMA. Contract details between the two parties are not revealed. The old owner of Bellator MMA, Paramount, still holds a small percentage of shares in the structure of this tournament.
In the short term, PFL said they will still maintain Bellator's competition system as the present time. PFL and Bellator will still hold events in parallel with each other. However, from 2024, PFL will bring a new series of version for Bellator.
In the opposite direction, boxers who are signing a contract with Bellator will benefit significantly when PFL buys this tournament. Since 2024, they have the right to freedom to register to attend events in the system of PFL. The PFL also raises the ambition to organize the event combining the two tournaments.
One of the plans cherished by the PFL is to organize the “super belt” match between the champion of the two tournaments. Sharing with ESPN, President Donn Davis said: “The foundation of all sports is the quality of the participating athletes. With the merger of the two tournaments, we have a player asymptotic at the top of the top UFC”.
Commenting on the acquisition of Bellator, President of PFL said this is “an opportunity to come once in a lifetime”. He judged Bellator as a tournament of quality and depth, which will help improve PFL more in the future. The acquisition of Bellator is not often happening in sports world.
On Bellator's side, the president of the tournament, Mr. Scott Coker, has not commented on the information of PFL acquisition. Donna Davis affirmed that PFL had asked Coker and his team to continue to work, even when PFL became the new owner of the tournament.
PFL was born in 2017, after Bellator 9 years but has quickly grown recently. This tournament has signed a contract with many famous boxers, typically Francis nunnou. The former UFC champion is likely to officially play the first match at PFL in early 2024.