The PFL’s acquisition of Bellator roughly a year ago appeared to be a massive win for the promotion, deepening its roster and allowing it to promote events under two recognizable brands.
In execution, however, the merger of two promotions under one roof (but still run as separate entities of sorts, with Bellator MMA now the “Bellator Champions Series“) has been anything but smooth.
Picking up a broadcast deal with HBO MAX, the Bellator side of things promised eight events in 2024, then delivered just five, with dates in Paris, Chicago, and Japan scrapped. That has led to fighters under the Bellator banner struggling to compete, and in recent days, bantamweight champ Patchy Mix, featherweight champ Patricio Pitbull, and bantamweight contender Leandro Higo have voiced their frustrations publicly.
“I’ve been training my ass off for the last half of year for nothing. This is frustrating in the prime of my career and I’ve had my fight in November cancelled?” a clearly aggravated Mix wrote on social media. “Then now again I’m being told I’m off January Dubai card? I am the best in the world and I want to fight to prove it.”
Mix had been scheduled to face Leandro Higo at Bellator Paris in November, one of the cancelled events. Bellator’s next show is set for Dubai in January, billed as the Road to Dubai, and headlined by lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov.
“This is very frustrating. We have no clue about when we might be fighting after two fight cancellations in a row,” a post to Higo’s Twitter/X account said in response. “Time is of the essence in this game, we can’t waste our primes on the sidelines. I’m working hard to take that title, spending money, sweat and blood. What’s going on?
Featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull (or whoever manages his social media presence) had a longer statement.
“I haven’t fought since February. I wanted to fight 3x this year, but I was told I’d have to wait until December 31st and found out online my opponent would fight someone else,” Pitbull began. “Then they had a replacement, I bring people over, spend more money with the camp and there’s no fight.”
“They said things didn’t work out with Japan and that it wasn’t their fault. Ok. So why don’t you stage a show somewhere else? What kind of promotion can’t give fighters at least two fights a year? Some haven’t even fought this year! Bellator used to be BIG. Things worked and we always had answers. They never just cancelled a show and said they had no idea when we would be booked. Even regional promotions have dates set for April of next year already! This merger has been a disaster to the sport of MMA. Meanwhile we have to see the top brass talking about offering tens of millions of dollars to social media personalities and semi-retired fighters, while cutting 90% of the roster and telling guys making 30+30 they’re too expensive. How can you become number 1 in the world if you don’t stage events and don’t want to pay fighters?”
“I am very worried about the future of Bellator and MMA in general. I feel very sorry for all the fighters who didn’t even get to fight this year or were cut because they just don’t make shows or think they’re expensive, and all the fighters who were forced to take paycuts,” Pitbull continued. “This is wrong. We need answers, we need the fighters and fans to be respected. This is not a game or just some business, these are people’s lives we are talking about. A serious promotion would give fighters the chance to fight at least 3 times a year if they’re healthy.”
Light heavyweight champ Corey Anderson also chimed in. “Aging like warm cheese over here waiting for [PFL MMA] to give me a call. But don’t get it twisted…. we still ready to defend the strap against ANYBODY! Young or Old!!” he wrote on his own social media account.
Josh Hill and Sabah Homasi were among the fighters who were released following the PFL’s purchase of Bellator MMA. So far, the only fight scheduled for a Bellator event between now and January 25 is Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Paul Hughes. However, a number of the promotion’s names were added to the PFL Championship/PFL MENA card later this month.
