Tag: Donn Davis

PFL Founder Rejects Bellator Fighter Complaints, Insists Promotion Did ‘Best They Could’ In 2024

2024 has provided some problems for the PFL that they haven’t had to deal with in the past. Despite having the PFL debut of Francis Ngannou and some great performances on the 2024 World Championships card, a lot of the talk surrounding the promotion as of late has revolved around the fighters that haven’t been […]

2024 has provided some problems for the PFL that they haven’t had to deal with in the past. Despite having the PFL debut of Francis Ngannou and some great performances on the 2024 World Championships card, a lot of the talk surrounding the promotion as of late has revolved around the fighters that haven’t been in action.

Following the acquisition of Bellator last year, the PFL was always going to have to work out how to keep a huge amount of new fighters on the roster busy and happy. This has not been the case for some of the top names in the promotion including Bellator champions like Patrício Pitbull, Cris Cyborg and Patchy Mix who have all complained about not being as active as they would like.

In a recent social media post, PFL founder Donn Davis hit back at some of the criticisms by stating that the promotion always has and always will offer each athlete the opportunity to compete twice per calendar year. It is also worth noting that the following post was edited with a slight change to the wording.

The post originally read that the PFL did “a good job” before it was later changed to state that the promotion did the “best we could”.

“PFL has ALWAYS provided all fighters 2 fights a year … When we acquired Bellator THEY had ZERO fight events scheduled for their Bellator 210 fighters in 2024. @PFLMMA stepped in and did best we could for them in 2024 … 2025 ALL fighters again 2 fights a year!”

Cyborg, who is the Bellator featherweight champion, has been one of the most vocal about her issues with the PFL but this has quietened down since her fight with Larissa Pacheco in October. The Brazilian icon responded to Davis’ post and showed her support for the promotion.

Pitbull, on the other hand, has made his mind up that he wishes to be released from the promotion so that he can go and fight elsewhere after going public with his complaints. He also responded and disputed some of the claims made by Davis.

PFL’s Donn Davis Explains Silence On Fighter Put In Coma After Botched Weight Cut: ‘Not Our Place’

During a recent Q&A session hosted by MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck, PFL founder Donn Davis took questions from the fans in the live chat. One question asked whether Davis and the promotion would be releasing an official statement regarding Daiane Silva. The Brazilian fighter was set to make her debut for the promotion at the […]

Continue Reading PFL’s Donn Davis Explains Silence On Fighter Put In Coma After Botched Weight Cut: ‘Not Our Place’ at MMA News.

During a recent Q&A session hosted by MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck, PFL founder Donn Davis took questions from the fans in the live chat. One question asked whether Davis and the promotion would be releasing an official statement regarding Daiane Silva.

The Brazilian fighter was set to make her debut for the promotion at the Bellator Champions Series event in London back in September. Following a failed attempt to hit the featherweight limit, having previously competed at lightweight in her career, Silva was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at Northwick Park Hospital in London.

After suffering from kidney failure, she was placed into an induced coma with MMA Fighting reporting that she is still currently sedated. Nacao Cyborg, an MMA promotion belonging to Cris Cyborg, posted about the current situation this past weekend which alerted a lot of people to what was going on after there was no statement or update from the PFL.

Davis explained why that was the case by speaking publicly on Silva’s health concerns for the first time.

“Yes, I’ll tell you it’s specifically not been addressed for the fighter privacy. Everything you just said fully explains the situation. She was a first time fighter for us, she experienced a very difficult weight loss which resulted in a medical emergency which was dealt with seriously and appropriately and she’s been in long-term hospitalization and we’ve done everything possible to support her recovery. To say anything other than that is not our place. This is her business and her privacy but everything I just said is the news and that’s the news that is well known and that’s the news that, we wouldn’t want to say anything other than that news.”

Davis was also asked why there was no response from the promotion when they were asked for updates by the media.

“Yeah look, I understand why a lot of times, people in the media want to know stuff. I totally understand that but I would hope people appreciate over the last five or six years, given how we’ve handled our business partners, our fighters, our relationships with everybody associated with the company, we always try to do the right thing, which doesn’t always mean the easy thing. In this case, I think respecting her privacy at a very sensitive time instead of giving constant updates to anyone who wants to know is the right thing. It might not appear to be the easy thing.”

Continue Reading PFL’s Donn Davis Explains Silence On Fighter Put In Coma After Botched Weight Cut: ‘Not Our Place’ at MMA News.

PFL Founder Anticipates UFC Attempt To Stifle Ngannou’s Return: ‘What Will Dana White Announce?’

Francis Ngannou makes his PFL debut this weekend, and the promotion is expecting his ex-employers to do what they can to steal the spotlight. For the first time since January 2022, Ngannou will enter the cage for an MMA contest on Saturday, October 19. In his last appearance close to three years ago, “The Predator” […]

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Francis Ngannou makes his PFL debut this weekend, and the promotion is expecting his ex-employers to do what they can to steal the spotlight.

For the first time since January 2022, Ngannou will enter the cage for an MMA contest on Saturday, October 19. In his last appearance close to three years ago, “The Predator” got the better of Ciryl Gane to remain UFC heavyweight champion.

On this occasion, the Cameroonian will debut in new surroundings as the headline act for the Professional Fighters League’s second pay-per-view event of 2024.

After completing his long-desired transition to boxing to do battle with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, the former UFC champ will adjust his sights back to MMA to face 2022 PFL title winner Renan Ferreira in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

And as his first MMA fight week since departing the UFC gets underway, the PFL higher-ups are seemingly expecting some outside efforts to drag the spotlight away from Ngannou…

Davis Predicts White Announcement In Light Of Ngannou’s PFL Fight Week

PFL founder, chairman, and co-owner Donn Davis has caused a stir in recent times owing to repeated shots at his organization’s former fighter, two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison.

To kick off the PFL’s ‘Battle of the Giants’ fight week, Davis once again had his sights on a UFC figure, this time the boss.

In a social media post, Davis suggested the UFC CEO will no doubt be preparing a major announcement in the hope of stifling Ngannou’s return — a habit of the UFC’s that has become a running joke in the MMA community.

“PFL Super Fight Week! Francis Ngannou makes his highly anticipated return with @PFLMMA!” Davis wrote on X. “So what will @danawhite announce to try to steal spotlight from THE biggest fight of 2024?? #PFLSuperFights“

It would stand to reason that no announcement could affect the anticipation for Ngannou’s return, which comes after he took Fury to the limit and suffered a brutal KO to Joshua in the squared circle.

Ngannou vs. Ferreira headlines Saturday’s card, with the likes of women’s MMA legend Cris Cyborg, reigning Bellator middleweight kingpin Johnny Eblen, and former Bellator champion AJ McKee making up the undercard.

Continue Reading PFL Founder Anticipates UFC Attempt To Stifle Ngannou’s Return: ‘What Will Dana White Announce?’ at MMA News.

Kayla Harrison Handles PFL’s Mockery With Grace

Kayla Harrison recently responded to the PFL’s jabs aimed at her ahead of her UFC 307 fight. Harrison notched a crucial victory over Ketlen Vieira in their bantamweight clash last weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah. “Fenomeno” put her through a grueling test, but Harrison ultimately prevailed, earning a hard-fought unanimous decision win. The 34-year-old […]

Continue Reading Kayla Harrison Handles PFL’s Mockery With Grace at MMA News.

Kayla Harrison recently responded to the PFL’s jabs aimed at her ahead of her UFC 307 fight.

Harrison notched a crucial victory over Ketlen Vieira in their bantamweight clash last weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah. “Fenomeno” put her through a grueling test, but Harrison ultimately prevailed, earning a hard-fought unanimous decision win.

The 34-year-old Ohio native has spent nearly all of her MMA career dominating the PFL’s lightweight division. The two-time Olympic gold medalist has impressively finished 11 of her 15 victories, with her only professional setback coming in November 2022, when she suffered a unanimous decision defeat to Larissa Pacheco in their trilogy bout.

Merely hours ahead of her bout with Vieira at UFC 307, her former organization, PFL, shared a promotional clip for Pacheco’s upcoming bout against Cris Cyborg on October 19. In the process, they appeared to ridicule Harrison’s sole career defeat.

PFL co-founder Donn Davis has also often asserted that Harrison departed the promotion out of fear, avoiding potential matchups with Pacheco and Cyborg. However, Harrison appears undeterred by the incessant criticism…

Harrison On PFL Targeting Her: ‘I’m not going to go low’

During a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Harrison weighed in on the PFL’s attempts to mock her through their promotional video. The former Olympic wrestler stated that she has no intention of speaking negatively about her previous organization, emphasizing her pride in having contributed to its growth.

“I operate from a place of gratitude, and I grew up in that organization,” Harrison said. “I was able to financially provide for my family. I have financial abundance. I grew so much there. I’m grateful for what I believe I helped build over there. I feel like I was a big part of that, and I take pride in that.

I’m not going to go low. I’m not going to talk sh*t… That’s not who I am as a person. That’s not the kind of business that I want to do. That’s not what I want to be known for. So I’ll just keep my head down, work hard, you want to talk sh*t about me? Go ahead. I helped build that company.”

At the UFC 307 press conference, UFC CEO Dana White responded to the unfolding drama between the PFL and Harrison with a chuckle, remarking, “When you’re losing as much money as they are, f**king go for it.”

Continue Reading Kayla Harrison Handles PFL’s Mockery With Grace at MMA News.

PFL Founder Touts Superior Women’s Division After UFC 307 Harrison, Peña Wins

UFC 307 was a big night for the women’s bantamweight division due to two match-ups that took place right at the top of the rankings. Julianna Peña was able to reclaim the 135-pound title by defeating Raquel Pennington via split decision in the co-main event. Earlier on in the night, Kayla Harrison cemented her status […]

Continue Reading PFL Founder Touts Superior Women’s Division After UFC 307 Harrison, Peña Wins at MMA News.

UFC 307 was a big night for the women’s bantamweight division due to two match-ups that took place right at the top of the rankings.

Julianna Peña was able to reclaim the 135-pound title by defeating Raquel Pennington via split decision in the co-main event.

Earlier on in the night, Kayla Harrison cemented her status as the next in line by defeating Ketlen Vieira via a unanimous decision.

Harrison’s return to the Octagon wasn’t without comment from her former home, the PFL, who received some criticism for posting about her loss to Larissa Pacheco on the same evening.

The use of Harrison’s time spent in the PFL didn’t stop being talking point there after the promotion’s founder commented once again on the day after UFC 307.

Donn Davis Says PFL’s Women’s Division Would ‘Crush’ The UFC’s, Lays Down A Challenge To Prove It

In a post on X, PFL founder Donn Davis made a statement that was followed by a challenge to the UFC regarding the strength of their female roster.

He took Cris Cyborg and Larissa Pacheco, who are set to face off on October 19, and put them up against the champion and top contender in the UFC’s 135-pound division.

Davis makes it clear that he would back Cyborg and Pacheco over Peña and Harrison and even offers to put money on it.

Following Dana White’s harsh comments regarding the success of the PFL in his post-UFC 307 press conference, Davis wrote “#DanaScared” underneath the post.

“It is clear from UFC 306 that @PFLMMA female division would crush @UFC. I am so confident… winner take all. PFL: Cyborg + Pacheco. UFC: Harrison + Peña. $2m to each fighter… losing company pays $8m total fighter purses”

Read also: Kayla Harrison On Being Bloodied For The First Time At UFC 307: ‘That Threw Me…’

Continue Reading PFL Founder Touts Superior Women’s Division After UFC 307 Harrison, Peña Wins at MMA News.

PFL Founder Continues To Bash Kayla Harrison For UFC Signing: ‘She Ran’

PFL founder Donn Davis isn’t letting up with his theories on why Kayla Harrison left his promotion to join the UFC. Harrison’s time competing in the SmartCage, wherein she collected two titles at 155 pounds, came to an end following a bounce-back win over Aspen Ladd at last year’s championship event. The two-time Olympic gold […]

Continue Reading PFL Founder Continues To Bash Kayla Harrison For UFC Signing: ‘She Ran’ at MMA News.

PFL founder Donn Davis isn’t letting up with his theories on why Kayla Harrison left his promotion to join the UFC.

Harrison’s time competing in the SmartCage, wherein she collected two titles at 155 pounds, came to an end following a bounce-back win over Aspen Ladd at last year’s championship event.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo completed a long-discussed switch to the UFC, shocking many by committing to a bantamweight future.

Debuting this past April, the American Top Team standout made the most of the major UFC 300 stage by dominantly submitting former champion Holly Holm to likely put her one victory away from a shot at the gold.

But while Harrison has the chance to achieve that this weekend at UFC 307 when she shares the Octagon with Ketlen Vieira, her decision to join MMA’s leading promotion is still being scrutinized.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, that’s by her ex-employer…

Donn Davis: Kayla Harrison Left PFL For UFC Because Of Need For ‘Validation’

During a recent appearance on SiriusXM’s MMA Today show with Din Thomas and Alan Jouban, Davis further addresses Harrison’s decision to continue her career away from the PFL.

He once again offered a negative take on the reasons behind Harrison’s departure, claiming she “ran” from another fight with Larissa Pacheco and long-awaited showdown with Cris Cyborg.

Davis also reiterated his belief that Harrison was seeking ‘validation’ that she shouldn’t need by competing under the UFC banner.

“We brought Kayla in from the Olympics, developed her into an 18-1 star, two-time champion, and one of the greatest women — top five in the sport today,” Davis said. “Nothing but pride for that and nothing but respect for Kayla. As a competitor, to build the company, I want every great fighter here.

“I’m disappointed that we couldn’t keep Kayla here for what I think are the two biggest fights of her legacy and her career: avenging Pacheco and winning the championship and beating Cyborg, who is the greatest ever,” Davis continued. “I don’t like that she ran from those. I don’t like that she ran to a brand to validate herself. I think so highly of Kayla Harrison, she doesn’t need a brand to validate her. … So that disappointed me.”

Regardless, Harrison is now forging a path to greatness in new surroundings. And having already achieved title glory in the SmartCage twice, the Ohio native is now looking to repeat the feat inside the Octagon and establish herself as among the UFC’s all-time greats.

The next step in that journey comes opposite Vieira this Saturday night in Salt Lake City, where a win is expected to book her spot opposite the bantamweight champion next time out.

Continue Reading PFL Founder Continues To Bash Kayla Harrison For UFC Signing: ‘She Ran’ at MMA News.