PFL Founder Donn Davis has addressed claims by former Bellator fighter Sabah Homasi that the promotion failed to pay his medical bills for an injury sustained while competing for the promotion — and it appears the fighter was right.
What it boils down to, however, is who owned Bellator MMA at the time of the incident, the PFL founder and co-owner stated during a recent appearance on the Weighing In podcast with ex-official “Big” John McCarthy and former fighter Josh Thompson.
Homasi (17-12), a former UFC athlete who competed for Bellator between 2019 and 2023, posting a 5-4 record across nine fights, aired his grievance with the promotion on social media in April, writing “Any fighters that got caught up in the PFL Bellotor MMA merger that have not been reimbursed for surgeries and hospitalization from a fight or is it just me?”
He’d then suggest that while the PFL wanted to compete with the UFC, “they aren’t taking care of their fighters.”
Homasi later appeared on the MMA Today podcast with Andreas Hale and Din Thomas, confirming the issue was related to a broke orbital that required surgery.
“I don’t know if Viacom is responsible for that, or if PFL acquired that debit, I’m not sure exactly how that works. And I don’t know if they’re pointing the finger at each other. Because we were told to get in touch with Viacom, and I don’t know what happened with that,” explained Homasi. “I’m just sitting here, just waiting to get reimbursed, and I’m losing patience, I’m losing patience over this. Because I shouldn’t have to be. It’s been seven months.”
While he confirmed that American Top Team‘s Dan Lambert had secured an attorney for him should legal action be necessary, “I’m just hoping it doesn’t have to come down to that,” Homasi added.
Speaking to “Big” John and Josh Thompson, Davis did point the finger back at Viacom, or at least Paramount, who fell under the Viacom umbrella.
“That was Paramount not paying,” Davis stated (h/t MMA Junkie). “We worked to get him paid. All happened before we bought it. We’re trying to stay low-key because that’s who we are. Paramount didn’t pay. We’re working to get somebody who owes him to pay him. A lot of these fighters and managers don’t even understand what they don’t understand. Those aren’t our bills. Those are the old company’s bills.”
The PFL purchased Bellator MMA late last year, and have run two Bellator Champions Series shows to date. Sabah Homasi, meanwhile, became a free agent following the acquisition, having suffered back-to-back losses in his last two bouts.
