Professional Fighters League

Professional Fighters League
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2024 in Professional Fighters League
SportMixed martial arts
Founded2018; 6 years ago (2018)
FounderDonn Davis[1]
Owner(s)PFL MMA, Inc.
CEOPeter Murray[2]
CountryUnited States
TV partner(s)ESPN
Official websitepflmma.com
Seasons

The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is an American mixed martial arts league founded by venture capitalist Donn Davis in 2017 and launched in 2018,[3][4] following the acquisition and restructuring of the former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) promotion in 2017 by MMAX Investment Partners.[5][6] It is the first major MMA organization in which individual athletes compete in a regular season, post-season and championship, rather than on a year-round basis.[7]

The PFL currently puts on fights across six weight-divisions: featherweight, women's lightweight, lightweight, welterweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight. In addition to this, there is also a ‘Super Fight’ division, which isn't defined by weight, but instead is based on the status and name value of individuals who compete in it.[8][9] The PFL's matches are held inside a 10-sided mixed martial arts cage known as the SmartCage, and adhere to the unified rules of mixed martial arts, with the exception that the PFL prohibits all elbow strikes.[10][11][12]

The PFL's inaugural event took place on June 7, 2018, at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. At the end, each champion of the six weight classes won a championship prize of $1 million each.[13][14]

  1. ^ Axson, Scooby. "PFL steps into the 'decagon' with new ideas for MMA and Claressa Shields". USA TODAY.
  2. ^ "MMA Fighting: PFL signs distribution deal with NBC Sports, Facebook". mmafighting.com. January 29, 2018.
  3. ^ Goldsmith, Jill (2022-01-25). "MMA's Professional Fighters League Extends ESPN Deal Starting With New Season". Deadline. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
  4. ^ Connolly, Matt. "MMA In 2017 Part II: Under New Ownership, WSOF Prepares To Rebrand As Pro Fighters League (Updated)". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
  5. ^ Mindenhall, Chuck. "PFL has come a long way in a short time – so far that WSOF feels like a distant memory". The Athletic. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  6. ^ Neibauer, Michael. "Russ Ramsey, Donn Davis launch professional MMA league with $10M prize pool". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
  7. ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (2018-03-29). "Professional Fighters League To Partner With MGM Television Group For New Programming". Deadline. Retrieved 2018-06-19.
  8. ^ Sharma, Akaash (May 11, 2021). "Everything You Need To Know About Professional Fighters League". www.one37pm.com. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  9. ^ Mitra, Anurag (24 December 2020). "Professional Fighters League: All you need to know about the unique MMA league". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  10. ^ Albano, Thomas (2021-04-19). "What are the rules for the Professional Fighters League?". FanSided. Retrieved 2021-10-29.
  11. ^ Dachman, Jason (24 May 2021). "Inside the 'SmartCage': Data Sits at the Center of the Professional Fighters League Universe". Sports Video Group. Retrieved 2021-10-29.
  12. ^ Professional Fighters League (March 3, 2023). "Professional Fighters League Official Rules" (PDF). Professional Fighters League. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
  13. ^ Mazique, Brian. "How The PFL Plans To Change The Way Fans, Fighters And Sponsors See MMA". Forbes. Archived from the original on August 11, 2018. Retrieved 2018-06-19.
  14. ^ "PFL 1 debut card official in New York after heavyweight musical chairs". MMA Junkie. 2018-06-06. Retrieved 2021-10-27.