It was one year ago at this time that the fortunes of PFL’s future appeared to change for good as the anticipation of a make-or-break 2024 began to really take hold.
PFL announced last November it had acquired the roster and brand name of Bellator MMA to merge with its rapidly growing stable, which had already received a major upgrade months earlier with the electic signings of former UFC champion Francis Ngannou, YouTube superstar and combat sports disruptor Jake Paul and a pair of women’s boxing stars in Amanda Serrano and Savannah Marshall.
It wasn’t long before PFL founder Donn Davis began announcing to the world that his promotion wasn’t just here to achieve universal acclaim as the decided No. 2 to UFC’s stranglehold on the industry, but that the home of “SmartCage” was expecting to compete on equal terms with Dana White and the world famous Octagon.
But as we near the close of the calendar year just days out from PFL’s 2024 World Championship card, which emanates Friday afternoon from King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, it’s not difficult to surmise that PFL came up short in its intentions and doesn’t appear to be even trending in the right direction of their outsized…
