Tag: Donn Davis

Donn Davis Causes A Stir By Claiming Bellator Fighters ‘Got Way More Fights’ Than PFL Counterparts In 2024

Donn Davis, founder and chairman of the Professional Fighters League (PFL), continues to dismiss any suggestion that his promotion hasn’t done right by fighters it acquired through the Bellator acquisition. Davis and the PFL have come under heavy scrutiny in recent weeks after a number of fighters went public with their complaints about management. Most […]

Donn Davis, founder and chairman of the Professional Fighters League (PFL), continues to dismiss any suggestion that his promotion hasn’t done right by fighters it acquired through the Bellator acquisition.

Davis and the PFL have come under heavy scrutiny in recent weeks after a number of fighters went public with their complaints about management.

Most notably, champions Patricio “Pitbull” Freire and Patchy Mix marked some of the unhappy ex-Bellator stars who were left without their desired number of fights in 2024 — the first full calendar year post-the PFL’s purchase of its rival organization. That led to them even requesting their release from the PFL on social media.

The promotion hasn’t released an official statement, however, and its founder has been largely dismissive of the fighters’ complaints in his recent LinkedIn and X posts.

And after previously insisting he and his colleagues did “the best” they could, Davis’ latest comments have once again failed to take the likes of “Pitbull” and Mix’s thoughts seriously.

Davis wrote on social media Wednesday, claiming that Bellator fighters actually “got way more fights” than PFL athletes in 2024 in spite of the numerous canceled Champions Series cards.

Of course, the addition of context to Davis’ figures does little to help his case.

While plenty of fighters were added to the PFL’s season format, where they competed numerous times, that doesn’t change the fact that Freire, Mix, Danny Sabatello and the like made the walk just once.

It’s hard to imagine those sidelined fighters will be changing their stance on a push for more activity as long as others were handed two or three times more appearances in the cage.

Unsurprisingly, Davis’ latest attempt at pushing away fighter complains did not go down well with the MMA community online — to say the least.

PFL Announces Major Change To Ruleset For 2025: ‘You Asked For…’

We haven’t been in 2025 for long but the PFL has already announced a major change to the promotion going forward. One of the most talked about criticisms of the action that takes place inside the Smart Cage has been the removal of one of the most dangerous weapons in mixed martial arts. Elbows are […]

We haven’t been in 2025 for long but the PFL has already announced a major change to the promotion going forward. One of the most talked about criticisms of the action that takes place inside the Smart Cage has been the removal of one of the most dangerous weapons in mixed martial arts.

Elbows are an incredibly important weapon in a fighter’s arsenal, especially for grapplers who do their best work when they’re on top of their opponents, raining down strikes. However, due to the promotion’s tournament format, they have not been allowed in the PFL’s ruleset because it makes it more difficult for fighters to make the required turnarounds throughout the season due to the cuts that elbows often open up.

For a long time, fans have argued that whilst this may be the case, they should be given the all clear for elbows in championship fights and in this area, the PFL made a change by allowing this form of striking technique in the 2024 World Championships. Across that event alone, we saw some devastating elbows once they were unlocked with Dakota Ditcheva in particular making the case for why this ruleset should become permanent with her ruthless display against Taila Santos.

The promotion have finally responded to this feedback from the fans and the fighters via a recent social media post from PFL founder Donn Davis who announced that from now, elbows will be allowed in every PFL fight. 2024 may have been a mixed bag for the promotion overall but this is a step in the right direction regarding the product itself.

“New Year … New Adjustments YOU asked for ELBOWS @PFLMMA is giving you elbows! All elbows. All fights. All the time. #PFLMMA 2025 … COMING”

Donn Davis Lists ‘5 Bad Things’ That Happened To PFL In 2024: ‘Bellator Star Fighters Complained…’

The PFL had some major highlights throughout 2024 from the debut of Francis Ngannou to the rise of one of the promotion’s new focal points, Dakota Ditcheva. However, the year also provided them with some difficult challenges, some of which are yet to be dealt with now that 2025 is underway. PFL founder Donn Davis […]

The PFL had some major highlights throughout 2024 from the debut of Francis Ngannou to the rise of one of the promotion’s new focal points, Dakota Ditcheva. However, the year also provided them with some difficult challenges, some of which are yet to be dealt with now that 2025 is underway.

PFL founder Donn Davis spoke about this in a recent post on LinkedIn which has attracted the wrong kind of attention. In an effort to show the other side to what most business owners put out there on social media, Davis listed “5 bad things that happened to PFL in 2024.”

The majority of the post references things that happened behind the scenes which fight fans wouldn’t have known about as Davis talks through some of the issues that they have experienced that come with running a company of this scale. He reveals how throughout 2024, they have had to battle potential investors wasting their time, an advertiser deal breaking down, the costs of international expansion into new regions and a delay in the promotion’s plans which was caused by one of their partners.

It is the third entry in the list that is particularly of note as unlike the other problems, this one has taken place in the public eye. The PFL’s acquisition of Bellator has certainly led to the promotion having a better product overall when it comes to the talent on their roster but keeping everyone busy and happy has been a major issue with several big names openly voicing their issues with the way that they have been treated.

Davis made reference to this in his post where he appeared to criticize these fighters for making claims which have damaged the promotion’s public perception.

“Some Bellator star fighters complained on social media about not fighting, making PFL look like not meet our contracts.”

PFL Founder Calls For ‘Less Noise & Disinformation’ In 2025 Amid Fighter Complaints

PFL founder and chairman Donn Davis continues to battle what he’s branded “disinformation” in the mixed martial arts community. 2024 turned out to be a mixed year for the Professional Fighters League, a promotion that entered it off the back of acquiring rival organization Bellator MMA. While that brought across prominent champions and plenty of […]

PFL founder and chairman Donn Davis continues to battle what he’s branded “disinformation” in the mixed martial arts community.

2024 turned out to be a mixed year for the Professional Fighters League, a promotion that entered it off the back of acquiring rival organization Bellator MMA.

While that brought across prominent champions and plenty of notable fighters, the past 12 months have been littered with issues relating to the merger, from complaints over unpaid medical expenses from before the PFL purchased Bellator to canceled events.

The ultimately failed Bellator Champions Series didn’t produce the number of cards or title fights that were laid out at the start of last year, leaving champions like Patricio Freire and Patchy Mix without their desired level of activity. Both have even publicly requested their releases.

PFL higher-ups haven’t spoken on the complaints from ex-Bellator athletes in recent times. Davis, for one, has instead continued to tout his promotion’s achievements in 2024 and dismiss any suggestion that fighters have been left in the cold.

And in his latest post, the 62-year-old commented on another seemingly disgruntled Bellator name, Aaron Pico.

During a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Pico’s manager stated that his man is now a free agent entering 2025 and is looking for regular fights having not competed since the PFL vs. Bellator event 11 months ago.

But despite inactivity seemingly bothering the 28-year-old featherweight, Davis claimed a “major” deal and title fight is on the table for Pico.

“2025 hopefully brings less MMA noise and disinformation,” Davis wrote, before addressing Pico’s situation. “@PFLMMA? has offered Pico title fight and major new contract … We love Aaron and look forward to him having big fights at #PFL for the long-term.”

Pico was expected to challenge “Pitbull” on New Year’s Eve before that became the latest event to fall by the wayside.

It remains to be seen what will come next for the decorated wrestler, who has won his last three fights opposite James Gonzalez, Pedro Carvalho, and James Kennedy.

PFL Founder Calls For ‘Less Noise & Disinformation’ In 2025 Amid Fighter Complaints

PFL founder and chairman Donn Davis continues to battle what he’s branded “disinformation” in the mixed martial arts community. 2024 turned out to be a mixed year for the Professional Fighters League, a promotion that entered it off the back of acquiring rival organization Bellator MMA. While that brought across prominent champions and plenty of […]

PFL founder and chairman Donn Davis continues to battle what he’s branded “disinformation” in the mixed martial arts community.

2024 turned out to be a mixed year for the Professional Fighters League, a promotion that entered it off the back of acquiring rival organization Bellator MMA.

While that brought across prominent champions and plenty of notable fighters, the past 12 months have been littered with issues relating to the merger, from complaints over unpaid medical expenses from before the PFL purchased Bellator to canceled events.

The ultimately failed Bellator Champions Series didn’t produce the number of cards or title fights that were laid out at the start of last year, leaving champions like Patricio Freire and Patchy Mix without their desired level of activity. Both have even publicly requested their releases.

PFL higher-ups haven’t spoken on the complaints from ex-Bellator athletes in recent times. Davis, for one, has instead continued to tout his promotion’s achievements in 2024 and dismiss any suggestion that fighters have been left in the cold.

And in his latest post, the 62-year-old commented on another seemingly disgruntled Bellator name, Aaron Pico.

During a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Pico’s manager stated that his man is now a free agent entering 2025 and is looking for regular fights having not competed since the PFL vs. Bellator event 11 months ago.

But despite inactivity seemingly bothering the 28-year-old featherweight, Davis claimed a “major” deal and title fight is on the table for Pico.

“2025 hopefully brings less MMA noise and disinformation,” Davis wrote, before addressing Pico’s situation. “@PFLMMA? has offered Pico title fight and major new contract … We love Aaron and look forward to him having big fights at #PFL for the long-term.”

Pico was expected to challenge “Pitbull” on New Year’s Eve before that became the latest event to fall by the wayside.

It remains to be seen what will come next for the decorated wrestler, who has won his last three fights opposite James Gonzalez, Pedro Carvalho, and James Kennedy.

PFL Founder Calls For ‘Less Noise & Disinformation’ In 2025 Amid Fighter Complaints

PFL founder and chairman Donn Davis continues to battle what he’s branded “disinformation” in the mixed martial arts community. 2024 turned out to be a mixed year for the Professional Fighters League, a promotion that entered it off the back of acquiring rival organization Bellator MMA. While that brought across prominent champions and plenty of […]

PFL founder and chairman Donn Davis continues to battle what he’s branded “disinformation” in the mixed martial arts community.

2024 turned out to be a mixed year for the Professional Fighters League, a promotion that entered it off the back of acquiring rival organization Bellator MMA.

While that brought across prominent champions and plenty of notable fighters, the past 12 months have been littered with issues relating to the merger, from complaints over unpaid medical expenses from before the PFL purchased Bellator to canceled events.

The ultimately failed Bellator Champions Series didn’t produce the number of cards or title fights that were laid out at the start of last year, leaving champions like Patricio Freire and Patchy Mix without their desired level of activity. Both have even publicly requested their releases.

PFL higher-ups haven’t spoken on the complaints from ex-Bellator athletes in recent times. Davis, for one, has instead continued to tout his promotion’s achievements in 2024 and dismiss any suggestion that fighters have been left in the cold.

And in his latest post, the 62-year-old commented on another seemingly disgruntled Bellator name, Aaron Pico.

During a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Pico’s manager stated that his man is now a free agent entering 2025 and is looking for regular fights having not competed since the PFL vs. Bellator event 11 months ago.

But despite inactivity seemingly bothering the 28-year-old featherweight, Davis claimed a “major” deal and title fight is on the table for Pico.

“2025 hopefully brings less MMA noise and disinformation,” Davis wrote, before addressing Pico’s situation. “@PFLMMA? has offered Pico title fight and major new contract … We love Aaron and look forward to him having big fights at #PFL for the long-term.”

Pico was expected to challenge “Pitbull” on New Year’s Eve before that became the latest event to fall by the wayside.

It remains to be seen what will come next for the decorated wrestler, who has won his last three fights opposite James Gonzalez, Pedro Carvalho, and James Kennedy.