Professional Fighters League isn’t slowing down anytime
soon.
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In a recent interview with talkSPORT MMA, PFL CEO Peter Murray
outlined the organization’s plans for expansion, which includes a
significant increase in the total number of events held in the
coming years.
“We have a regular cadence for every property. This year, we had 28
events,” Murray said. “Next year, we’ll have 36 events. Come 2026,
we’ll have 50 events. So we’re focused on our global franchise
events and then regional league events.”
This past year marked the debut of PFL MENA, which Murray said will
soon be holding events “throughout the Middle East” after using
Saudi Arabia as its home base to start. The overseas growth is far
from complete, as PFL plans to have a total of “six international
leagues up and running in the next two years,” according to
Murray.
One of the biggest stories at the end of 2023 was PFL’s purchase of
Bellator
MMA. The organization continued to run separately as Bellator
Champions Series in 2024, but there was some unrest from fighters
regarding the lack of activity since the acquisition. PFL recently
announced the first Champions Series event for 2025, which will
be headlined by a lightweight title bout between Usman
Nurmagomedov and Paul
Hughes. The Bellator branding has been removed from the cards,
but Murray made it clear that the format isn’t going anywhere. With
more events on tap in the coming years, it’s possible that more
fighters will be able to maintain active schedules under the PFL
umbrella.
“I think with the acquisition of Bellator, some fighters and fans
don’t understand where that fits in,” he said. “But now that we’ve
established the Champions Series, it’s the super fights on top,
then the Champions Series, then the global season, and the
international leagues. That’s the architecture and that’s the
pathway for fighters.”