While the Professional Fighters League had been expected to pick up Bellator MMA’s full roster with their purchase of the promotion late last year and honor existing contracts, that does not appear to be the case.
On Tuesday, two notable, long-serving Bellator names announced they were on the free agent market: Josh Hill and Sabah Homasi.
Both fighters revealed the news via social media, with Homasi posting simply “free agent” while Hill went into a slightly longer response to what had transpired.
“Well, I guess all that talk from PFL about bringing all the Bellator fighters over after the purchase was just that… talk. Thank you to Bellator and all the crew involved for being my home the past four years and giving me a platform to make a living doing what I love.”
“Free agent,” Hill finished.
Sabah Homasi (17-12), a former UFC fighter, became a fan-favorite in Bellator for exciting, action-heavy fights that included a wild tilt with Paul Daley, a flying knee finish of Bobby Voelker, and another wild encounter with Brennan Ward. “The Sleek Sheik” had lost his last two bouts.
Josh Hill (22-6) had been trading wins and losses over the past couple of years and was coming off a loss to Kasum Kasumov.
Following the PFL’s purchase of Bellator MMA, long the sport’s #2 promotion, founder Donn Davis has suggested existing contracts would be honored. That’s per Ariel Helwani (h/t Sports Illustrated), who interviewed Davis shortly after the acquisition. “When the UFC bought Pride, as we’ve discussed, some fighters didn’t cross over. Some of the contracts didn’t cross over, Fedor Emelianenko most notably. I asked him [Donn Davis], can that happen here or as a result of the acquisition are all the contracts coming over? He said, ‘Yes, that is accurate. All the contracts are coming over, no issues.”
