Professional Fighters League (PFL) News

Cole Shelton - January 18, 2022

Kayla Harrison will likely be heading back to the Professional Fighters League. According to MMA journalist, Ariel Helwani, PFL is the front-runner to sign the coveted free agent in Harrison. The deal is not done yet but the report says an agreement is all but finalized. It’s also trending in the right direction to be made official soon.

Harry Kettle - January 14, 2022

PFL CEO Peter Murray has said that Jake Paul fighting for the promotion could be a serious possibility in the future. For the last few years we’ve seen Jake Paul focus most of his energy on a successful transition into professional boxing. With a 5-0 record to his name alongside knockout wins over the likes of Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren, it’s safe to say the man formerly known as a “controversial YouTube star” has turned the game on its head in a fairly substantial way.

Cole Shelton - December 19, 2021

Jordan Young has passed away at age 27. Young, a veteran of PFL and Bellator, passed away on Saturday, his boxing coach at American Top Team Derik Santos. ATT and PFL confirmed the news on Sunday. The cause of death is not known at this time.

Adam Martin - November 21, 2021

Two-time PFL women’s lightweight champion Kayla Harrison is excited to prove to UFC president Dana White that she is “worth the investment”. Harrison is one of the most dominant female MMA fighters on the planet right now, and she recently became a free agent following her latest tournament win in the PFL. For Harrison, she has won two tournaments at women’s 155lbs now in PFL and she has been incredibly dominant throughout the way. It is getting to the point now where she is such a massive betting favorite for her fights that some fans find it is a waste of time for her to be in PFL, rather than in the UFC, where she would have much tougher competition.

Harry Kettle - October 29, 2021

Claressa Shields has hit back at Jake Paul’s criticism after her defeat to Abigail Montes at PFL 10 on Wednesday. After a successful mixed martial arts debut earlier this year, Claressa Shields was handed her first loss in the sport at PFL 10 when she suffered a split decision loss to Abigail Montes. While Montes was the deserving winner, Shields definitely showcased some progress in many aspects of her game.

Adam D Martin - October 28, 2021

Bruno Cappelozza reacted after learning his father passed away just minutes after winning the PFL heavyweight title and $1 million. Cappelozza defeated Ante Delija in a five-round heavyweight slugfest to win the PFL heavyweight championship and the $1 million grand prize. Just minutes after Cappelozza won the heavyweight tournament, the broadcast revealed that his family told him following his win that his father, Joao, passed away on Sunday. Cappelozza’s family wanted him to stay completely focused on his fight against Delija and they did not tell Cappelozza that his father had passed away until after the fight. It was an incredibly emotional moment for Cappelozza, and following the event, he took to his social media to react to the sad news.

Adam D Martin - October 28, 2021

PFL women’s lightweight champion Kayla Harrison is non-committal to joining the UFC following the expiration of her PFL contract. Harrison defeated Taylor Guardado via second-round submission in the women’s lightweight finals at the PFL Championship on Wednesday night at the Seminole Hard Rock & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Harrison dominated the fight from beginning to end by utilizing her dominant grappling game to get her opponent to the mat and finally submit her. It was the second straight tournament championship victory for Harrison in PFL, and the fight also marked the end of her contract with the promotion. Now that she has fought out the final fight of her deal, Harrison is headed towards free agency for the first time.

Harry Kettle - October 28, 2021

Jake Paul taunted Claressa Shields last night in the wake of her first mixed martial arts defeat at PFL 10. In what was just her second professional MMA contest, Shields battled it out with Abigail Montes and came up on the wrong end of a split decision loss. It marks her first pro defeat in combat sports with her boxing record currently sitting at 11-0.

Adam D Martin - October 27, 2021

Hip-hop artist Wiz Khalifa says that he is open to staking an MMA fight with PFL in the future, saying “I could see myself getting in the ring.” Khalifa recently became an investment with PFL, which holds its tournament championship on Wednesday. Khalifa is a huge MMA and combat sports fan himself, so when he had the opportunity to join the PFL family, he took it. But for Khalifa, this is not just about making a business investment or getting his name out there to more MMA fans. Instead, this could be the start of him potentially competing himself.

Harry Kettle - October 26, 2021

PFL star Kayla Harrison has spoken about the time she had a run-in with notorious Bellator fighter Dillon Danis. As Harrison attempts to continue her phenomenal run in PFL, many folks who are on the outside looking in have been talking about her potential and where she may go from here. After all, she’s had an incredibly dominant MMA career up to this point and she’s showing no signs of slowing down.

Drake Riggs - October 25, 2021

FORT LAUDERDALE — Kayla Harrison will be a free agent after this Wednesday’s PFL 2021 Championship. Appearing during the fight week’s media day, Harrison answered the usual round of questions – lastly focusing on comments from Dana White earlier in the day.

Drake Riggs - October 14, 2021

PHOENIX — Julia Budd is making the move to the PFL after a championship run with Bellator. The first and former women’s featherweight champion in Bellator history suffered a single defeat in her run with the promotion when facing Cris “Cyborg” Justino in January 2020. Budd (15-3) rebounded with two wins over Jessica Miele and Dayana Silva.

Adam Martin - October 10, 2021

Former UFC fighter Brendan Loughnane was among the alternate fighters named for the upcoming PFL $1 million tournament finals. Loughnane competed once in the Octagon in 2012, losing a decision to Mike Wilkinson. After putting in the work on the regional scene, Loughnane made his way to Dana White’s Contender Series in 2019. However, while he did win a decision over Bill Algeo, White passed on signing Loughnane to a UFC contract due to shooting for a takedown in the final 10 seconds of the fight. In a cruel twist of fate, Algeo would later be signed to the UFC.

Drake Riggs - October 1, 2021

FORT LAUDERDALE — Claressa Shields is fully committed to forging a strong and viable MMA career. The former three-division 11-0 boxing champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist joined MMA as a PFL lightweight in 2021. The tournament formatted promotion currently has Shields on the outside looking in as she keeps gaining experience after successfully debuting in June with a third-round TKO against Brittney Elkin.

Drake Riggs - October 1, 2021

FORT LAUDERDALE — Kayla Harrison is as dominant of a force as anyone in MMA in 2021. But with great success comes great detractors – or at least several in abundance. Beginning her run in June 2018 and now 11-0 in her professional MMA career, the Judo master has found the fans to be a lot more vocal than she’d experienced prior.

Drake Riggs - September 1, 2021

Ray Cooper III is just one win away from pocketing yet another million-dollar PFL championship. The PFL went without a season in 2020 before picking back up in 2021 where multiple big-name additions entered the fold. Going forward in the world, eventual normalcy will restore the idea of cross-promotion in the sport to its fullest — PFL CEO Peter Murray has seemingly opened up to the idea as this year’s finals draw near.

Harry Kettle - August 26, 2021

Bellator champion Cris Cyborg has given her thoughts on a potential superfight with PFL star Kayla Harrison. While both women are doing their own thing in their respective promotions, this feud certainly has a “sharks circling each other” feeling to it right now. Cyborg and Harrison have proven themselves to be amongst the most dominant female stars in the sport alongside Amanda Nunes and while fighting “The Lioness” in the UFC could happen in the future, right now Harrison’s future is up in the air as she comes towards the end of her PFL deal.

Harry Kettle - August 20, 2021

Rory MacDonald has issued a statement following his PFL semi-final defeat to Ray Cooper III last week. MacDonald, who was also beaten by Gleison Tibau in a controversial split decision defeat just two months ago, has been on quite the rollercoaster ride ever since leaving the UFC and joining Bellator – and then PFL.