With unhappy fighters publicly airing their frustration with PFL MMA recently, the president of rivals the UFC recently weighed in on the situation and he suggested the company could be near its end.
The UFC has had a death grip on the sport of MMA for the better part of the last 30 years. The company helped to create MMA and has been its overlord since the 1990s. However, in that time there have been quite a few companies that tried to make a play for the top spot.
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In the late 90s and early 2000s, Pride FC was a serious threat to the UFC before backstage drama and financial issues led to its demise. In the 2010s, Strikeforce seemed like it could be just as big a competitor as Pride once was. But its owners didn’t have the heart to keep taking the monetary losses needed to make a profit and sold the brand to UFC.
In recent years, one company has made a play to contend with UFC, and that is PFL MMA. The league has always stood out for using a season format. And having a million-dollar payday for fighters at the end of the season. The formula has seemingly worked as it has become the undisputed No. 2 in MMA and even brought competitor, Bellator, last year.
However, despite having the second-best roster of fighters in the sport, the league has struggled to keep some of its new top stars happy and Bellator alum Patricio Freire, Patchy Mix, and Corey Anderson have gone public with their frustration over the lack of fights and hopes to be released.
Following UFC 310, UFC President Dana White was asked about the public outcry from PFL MMA fighters, and unsurprisingly, he reveled in his competitor’s suffering.
Dana White thinks PFL MMA is close to going out of business
“The last couple of months we’ve been talking a lot about the PFL. They’re canceling a lot of shows. I know a lot of guys that are supposed to fight aren’t fighting. You guys know what’s going on. When you see that start to happen, you’re running out of money,” White said. “Things aren’t looking good and you’re going to have people that want to jump ship. These guys want to fight.
“You have a very limited time of opportunity if you are a professional athlete. And even less when you’re a fighter. I am sure you’re going to see a lot of that. And we’ll see how this plays out over the next several months going into 2025.”
PFL MMA is unlikely to run out of money after SRJ Sports Investments purchased a minority stake in the league last year. SRJ is funded by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund which has tens of billions in its cophers.
However, even if they have disposable funds, some investors may see a losing investment in the company. Francis Ngannou made his long-awaited debut in the fall, and that event reportedly scored only 10,000 pay-per-view buys. Jake Paul is signed to the company. However, there are still no plans for a potential MMA debut.
White has seen many competitors come and go during his run as UFC boss. So he certainly would know a failing company when he sees it.
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