BREAKING: Pro Football Hall of Famer
@raylewis
Joins PFL’s Newly Formed Athlete Advisory Board!— PFL MMA (@ProFightLeague)
March 25, 2021
In an effort to grow the influence of both the sport and the
Professional Fighters League individually, the
promotion is building an all-star athlete advisory board.
On Thursday, the tournament-based organization announced in a press
release that it was creating an Athlete Advisory Board. The goal of
this, per the PFL, is to “identify and recruit new talent as well
as further evolve the PFL’s fighter-first culture and mission.” It
is unclear how this board will achieve this, as the specific duties
other than media obligations such as “behind-the-scenes access”
have not yet been defined. Two key members of this board have been
announced: Pro Football Hall of Famer Ray Lewis, and Ultimate Fighting Championship Hall of Famer
Randy
Couture.
All-time great linebacker Lewis is not completely unfamiliar with
combat sports, as while he played football in high school, he was
also a standout high school wrestler at Kathleen High School in
Lakeland, Fla. In the NFL, two-time Super Bowl champ Lewis received
a myriad of accolades, perhaps most importantly as the Super Bowl
MVP of Super Bowl XXXV in 2001. The career Baltimore Raven also
earned Pro Bowl honors an incredible 13 times, one shy of the
record held by five players including Tom Brady.
In the release, PFL CEO Peter Murray said of Lewis, “I am excited
to welcome pro football Hall of Famer and two-time Super Bowl
champion Ray Lewis to the PFL’s Athlete Advisory Board. Ray’s
leadership and advocacy for athletes combined with Randy
Couture’s legacy and commitment to MMA will ensure the PFL
stays true to its fighter-first philosophy and advances the
sport.”
In addition to Lewis, Couture will participate on this board. “The
Natural” serves as one of the promotion’s color commentators.
Earlier this month, the PFL celebrated Couture’s career by
releasing a four-part documentary series about his career titled
“The Randy Couture Story.” The legendary Couture never competed for
PFL or its predecessor World Series of Fighting, as he hung up his
gloves over a year before WSOF
1 took place in November 2012. A multiple-time champ at both
heavyweight and light heavyweight in the UFC, Couture also served
as one of the coaches for Bellator MMA’s ill-fated “Fight Master” series in
2013.