Just over a year after they acquired Bellator, PFL is set to sunset the notable MMA brand.
Ariel Helwani reported Monday that PFL plans to stop hosting Bellator events in 2025, ending an 18-year run in the MMA world for the competitor company.
Bellator, as we know it, is no more. You will not see any more Bellator events. Also, there are some changes being made to the structure of PFL.
Here's what we know so far ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/HYp5IkzLJi
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 13, 2025
PFL purchased Bellator in late 2023, shortly after it was announced that its broadcast partner Showtime would shutter all sports programming by the end of the year.
While the main gain from PFL’s acquisition of Bellator was its roster – signing on numerous high-level champions across many divisions – the promotion also initially planned to keep the brand alive through a tour called the Champions Series.
The Champions Series ran through 2024, providing a chance for PFL and Bellator talent to compete outside of the promotion’s main tournament schedule. They initially planned on hosting eight events throughout the year but only followed through with five of the scheduled shows.
Helwani reported this week that they will keep the Champions Series alive, although they will drop the association with Bellator’s identity and instead market it as a PFL show. Since these were the only Bellator events still happening, the reported change marks an end to events promoted by the brand indefinitely.
It’s also been reported by Helwani that the series will feature defending champs, albeit no longer holding Bellator belts but instead PFL titles. Unclear at the moment is whether the Bellator champions – nine of which are currently recognized by the PFL – will be upgraded to a PFL champ, if there will be some level of consideration to talents who won PFL tournaments in 2024, or if another process will determine who will hold those belts.
A Champions Series is currently scheduled for January 25, with lightweight Bellator title holder Usman Nurmagomedov facing Paul Hughes in the main event.
Helwani’s latest scoops come amid other recent reports of a larger restructuring in the PFL, per Uncrowned. The promotion is expected to ditch its long-standing season format in 2025, a system which saw tournament fighters appear twice in regular season matchups before four qualified for a single-elimination playoff tournament.
Instead, it’s expected that the promotion will use the more traditional grand prix format of a larger single-elimination tournament played out throughout the year.
Uncrowned also reported that PFL will now pay fighters $500,000 for winning the grand prix finals, a change from the payout structure utilized since 2017.
For years, PFL would round up a fighter’s annual earnings to $1 million if they won the grand finals. This meant, for example, if a fighter had earned $200,000 from their three earlier bouts in the year, they would be paid another $800,000 for winning the tournament altogether. Without a round-up structure in place, there’s no guarantee that a fighter would make as much under the new system.
While the relevance of Bellator faded significantly through the one year it existed under PFL’s banner, the latest report shows that the brand will no longer hold any relevance. It’s undoubtedly the end of an era for sport, as the promotion gained relevance as the top U.S. challenger brand and kept their spot within MMA for a decade and a half.
Through its long-standing run on Spike TV and later its briefer stint on Showtime, Bellator became a home for legendary MMA fighters to keep competing and also allowed a secondary option for notable prizefighters to appear in high-level matchups. While many Bellator moments made the promotion infamous, it was a place where names like Michael Chandler, Patricio Pitbull, Douglas Lima, and Cris Cyborg competed while at the peak of their careers.
