PFL Officially Announces Bellator Purchase
After many rumors and reports, Professional Fighters League (PFL) has officially announced its purchase of Bellator MMA, and the acquisition was made official on Bellator MMA’s Twitter with a link to a Financial Times report.
Bellator MMA’s sale comes as its previous owner, Paramount, pulled out of the combat sports industry. The move saw Paramount close Showtime Sports which hosted Showtime Boxing and Bellator MMA. The price of PFL’s purchase of Bellator MMA was not announced. Although, it was announced that Paramount will retain a minority stake in the situation.
PFL’s acquisition of Bellator MMA raises a plethora of questions regarding how the two promotions will operate. In a report for ESPN, MMA reporter Brett Okamoto provided a deeper dive into how the two promotions would work together.
At the moment, PFL and Bellator MMA will remain separate products; however, Bellator will be a “reimagined” product. In addition, fighters signed to Bellator MMA will be immediately eligible to compete for PFL, but it was not made clear if the inverse is possible.
The PFL will also kick off the acquisition with a champions vs. champions event that pits the company’s best fighters against one another.
PFL will now have one of the deepest and most talented rosters in recent memory. This is the smallest gap between the UFC roster and its top competitor in a significant period.
“The basis of all sports is the quality of competitors,” PFL Chairman Donn Davis told ESPN. “With this acquisition, this combined roster is now equal to the UFC in terms of Top 25-ranked talent. The quality of the product, the depth of the product — this makes the PFL a global powerhouse overnight. That’s just not possible in everyday sports. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Quote via ESPN
The PFL roster includes household names like Francis Ngannou, Jake Paul, Amanda Serrano, Shane Burgos, Kayla Harrison and Claressa Shields, among others. The addition of fighters like Usman Nurmagomedov, Patchy Mix, Vadim Nemkov, Patricio Pitbull, Yaroslav Amosov, Cris Cyborg and others makes the roster far deeper.
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