Ahead of the PFL vs. Bellator MMA “Champions vs. Champions” Super Fight card on Feb. 24 in Riyadh, PFL founder Donn Davis doubles down on his commitment to the reimagined Bellator Champions Series.
Professional Fighters League (PFL) recently acquired Bellator MMA and repackaged the long-running mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion as Bellator Champions Series. The schedule gets underway with Bellator 302 on March 22 at SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Bellator 302 marks the first of eight Bellator Champions Series cards scheduled for 2024.
“We could have called it PFL, but Bellator has a lot of brand equity,” Davis told MMAmania.com. “When you look at the schedule and who’s fighting on them, two title fights for every event, it will be better than every UFC event that’s not pay-per-view (PPV), which are great. If you just tune into Saturday on ESPN, every Bellator Champions series is a better card because there’s such an excess of top talent that could not participate in the PFL season with our Bellator acquisition. So, we’re very committed to that. We think that’s going to be the right model. We think that’s what the market is telling us in terms of media companies, in terms of fighters, in terms of the right approach. But we just reimagined this product. The first one is March 22nd. I think it’s gonna be great.”
UFC has been running weekly “Fight Night” cards at the oft-maligned APEX.
Following the Bellator MMA acquisition, there was an air of uncertainty among contracted talent, with multiple combatants sharing their frustrations on social media. Davis insists the new-look promotion will serve to balance the existing PFL model, which continues to run season tournaments in addition to PPV Super Fight cards.
Like this weekend’s PFL vs. Bellator event in Riyadh.
“Bellator is very important, we think, for the company and for the fans for a few reasons,” Davis continued. “One, us having a one-off event product is very helpful for us because certain fighters can’t compete in the season format. Physically, the can’t do four fights a year. Certain fighters, economically, that’s not where they are in their life. Patchy Mix? That’s not where he is in his life. Globally, there’s more demand for the PFL company’s product and we don’t want that league season to be more than it is. That’s the perfect product. Those 10 events, we don’t want to have it more for the season and we don’t wanna dilute that. So that’s where Bellator comes in, to serve the market for fans and fighters.”
For the current Bellator 302 fight card and DAZN lineup click here.