PFL reportedly set to announce Bellator acquisition as founder promises arrival of 'new MMA global powerhouse'
Donn Davis's cryptic post raised speculations about PFL's potential acquisition of Bellator MMA.
Professional Fighters League and Bellator are among the most notable MMA promotions outside of the UFC. Earlier this year, reports suggested that PFL was closing in on a deal to acquire Bellator MMA.
Rumors flared up in September that the Donn Davis-led organization was in the process to buy out Bellator for a whopping $500 million.
Recently, Davis took to his ‘X’ account and posted a cryptic message that raised speculations about the announcement of a potential merger of the two MMA promotions.
Davis posted:
“MMA world changes today for better. Better for fans. Better for fighters. Better for commercial partners. New MMA global powerhouse arrives.”
The post was reshared by MMA Orbit on their X handle and opined that the announcement of Professional Fighters League's acquisition of Bellator could be made official soon.
See the tweet below:
PFL had also announced the plan to partner with a branch of Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund for $100 million in an effort to expand their footprint in the world of MMA. According to CEO Peter Murray, this was a part of the organization’s ongoing global expansion.
It was announced that they will have six fully functional regional leagues by the year 2026 with a goal to organize 50 MMA events. The Europe chapter of PFL was announced and the first event took place on March 25, 2023 in Newcastle in the U.K.
Professional Fighters League’s acquisition of Bellator will unify a large talent pool. It seems likely that a lot of fresh matchupswill possibly be made after the merger. However, their biggest adversary, UFC CEO Dana White is not intimidated by the competition.
Throwback to the time when Dana White brushed away the PFL-Bellator merger
Dana White is not a person that presents his opinions about his competitors in a polite manner. White has always been critical of other organizations' methods of doing business. While attending Dana White’s Contender Series 61 post-fight press conference, the UFC CEO was asked about the rumored deal between PFL and Bellator. White responded:
"Why on God’s green f***ing Earth would anybody buy Bellator?... Why anyone would buy Bellator is beside me. But hey, what do I know? I’ll sit back and see how this plays out... Bellator is $500 million? Awesome, sounds like a steal. Sounds like a f***ing steal... Buy that thing quickly before – who else does? Come on, guys. This is f***ing silly."
See Dana White make the statement below: