The second biggest MMA Business Story of the year saw the end of Bellator and the potential rise of the Professional Fighters League as the second biggest MMA promotion in the industry.
Bellator, long thought of as the silver medal in pro MMA to the UFC, became a victim of finances, budget cuts and poor distribution.
PFL obtained an influx of financial money from Saudi Arabia and was able to acquire the company and install itself as the second best company in professional MMA. It also renewed its deal with ESPN which (hopefully) will include linear as well as digital presences.
Second to the UFC, Bellator had a list of fighters that arguably could be billed as top in their weight classes. Notably Patchy Mix, Usman Nurmogomedov (prior to his banned substance infraction) and Patricio Pitbull could stake claims to being the best in the world. Add to that AJ McKee, Cris Cyborg and Sergio Pettis to name a few and you wonder how the company did not do better.
Via PFL Press Release:
PFL will continue the Bellator brand, and Bellator will be the “one-off” event product from PFL. PFL will launch a reimagined Bellator product in 2024 – the “Bellator International Champions Series.” The Bellator International Champions Series will consist of eight fight events each year hosted in major cities across the globe, and each Bellator event will feature two compelling co-main fights competing for championship belts.
Well, the problems are numerous but it did not help that the company yo-yo’d between CBS Sports Network and then Showtime as distributors. Also, Viacom/Paramount Global did not seem to be enthused about investing money into the company. While the stars were numerous, it did not have true matchups to put together a PPV. And while the grand prix tournaments were interesting, they did not catch on to the point of being must-see television for MMA fans.
It will be sad to see Bellator go but it will be interesting to see what PFL does with the company. While I am interested in champion vs. champion matchups, it does have the risk of being gimmicky. Yet, combining the two companies should provide talent depth for the PFL to put together more cards with quality fights rather than just quantity.
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