Professional Fighters League (PFL) acquired Bellator MMA back in late 2023, a mega-merger that PFL officials believed was “equal to UFC.” Not surprisingly, UFC CEO, Dana White, mocked the alliance as nothing more than a “hilarious” waste of time and money.
That’s probably why Viacom was “tired of doing it.”
Fast-forward to early 2025 and it appears PFL will terminate the Bellator MMA brand altogether and absorb its remaining talent. That’s according to a report from Ariel Helwani and may explain why this outspoken fighter can’t seem to secure a booking.
That’s not all.
PFL is also expected to rework its point-based season format and implement a more traditional tournament style with single-fight eliminations. Winners will also be taking a pay cut as the promotion scales down its $1 million payouts to $500,000.
No word yet on how PFL will handle existing Bellator MMA champions — like Usman Nurmagomedov — as it prepares for the upcoming “Road to Dubai” fight card on Sat., Jan. 25, 2025 inside Coca-Cola Arena in United Arab Emirates.
So another UFC killer bites the dust…
They Died Last Year RIP
They died when they moved to Showtime
Woah.
I just last night saw the last four or so Bellator cards were scratched…except one in Abu Dhabi, the last Bellator card.
Bellator Bjorn weekly tournament days were some of the best days in MMA.
Shame to see this promotion fall. Surprised it’s lasted as long as it has under Coker tho…let alone this shady PFL Merger.
RIP Bellator
What do you guys think Scott Coker will do next? Something outside of combat sports? Maybe become the face of powerslap?
He started a new promotion Fight Night San Jose
lol
Basing his promotion around San Jose worked great in 2006, with the AKA pipeline giving future legends a starting point, but that was nearly 20 years ago. Is Northern California even the hotspot it used to be these days?
It seems cost prohibitive to even try and make it as a fighter with the cost of living being astronomical there.
The UFC should revive Strikeforce as a feeder league for the UFC specifically. Bring Coker back to run it with their funding, run 12 cards a year, eliminate the DWCS and put anyone outside of the top 15 or 20 ranked fighters in each division in Strikeforce. Obviously the new Strikeforce would be exclusive to fightpass.
Also, fuck PFL for wasting some prime years of some good fighters.
IMO they are badly missing the boat by not doing something like that.
Regional MMA is pretty much dead because UFC snatches up everyone so early now. It used to be one of my favorite things (HDNet Fight days).
Now instead of prospects fighting on big regional shows in front of ruckus hometown crowds, they’re curtain jerking on the UFC prelims (usually in the dead Apex) with no hype for several years until they finally claw their way into the top 15.
BEEELLLLLAAATTTOOORRRRR
Bellator was the dumbest name for an MMA promotion in history