“In the world of sport, in terms of the fight community and combat sports, obviously championship title belts are customary. We’re continuing with that custom but we’ve got an added twist.” —PFL CEO Pete Murray
Love your championship title but hate dragging it into bed every night?
Professional Fighters League (PFL) is bringing “PFL vs. Bellator” champions a new piece of hardware “with an added twist.” In addition to the standard gold strap, the NFL-inspired belt will also feature a detachable ring for flexing on the go.
WAMMA did it first, PFL will do it better.
“I spent many years at the NFL where the players, their annual championship is the Super Bowl, they get a Super Bowl ring,” PFL CEO Pete Murray told MMAmania.com and other reporters during a recent roundtable discussion in Riyadh. “We commissioned the NFL’s Super Bowl ring maker to make the first-ever combat sports ‘champion of champions’ ring. It’s the same jeweler that the Super Bowl champions in the NFL wear.”
Here’s a closer look:
PFL acquired Bellator MMA back in late 2023.
The promotion is just two days out from its “PFL vs. Bellator” championship event in Riyadh. Former heavyweight boxing champion “Iron” Mike Tyson will be a part of this weekend’s festivities, presenting the newly-created belt to each champion crowned at Kingdom Arena in Saudi Arabia.
The card streams live at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV) and costs $49.99.
“Now fighters can actually take a piece of the belt with them and we thought it was not only appropriate to recognize these guys with a belt, but also befitting to have a custom ring made,” Murray continued. “Admiring Super Bowl champions, their rings and when they go out to dinners and events, sometimes it’s hard to bring the pieces of hardware everywhere you go.”
To see who’s fighting at the PFL vs. Bellator championship PPV event click here.