Elmont, NY — Big things are brewing over at the PFL, which is set to merge into Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions, with the two entities coming together at the start of 2027.
That news, announced this past week, has a different air around the promotion, which was in Long Island for PFL New York on Friday.
Following the event, which saw Usman Nurmagomedov and Dakota Ditcheva pick up key wins, PFL CEO John Martin addressed the media, tackling a wide range of merger-related and talent-related questions, as expected.
Is it a title fight for Dakota Ditcheva next? That was one of the first questions put to Martin, and it sounds like that is indeed the plan. Likely against Liz Carmouche, the 2025 PFL World Tournament winner and former Bellator women’s flyweight champ.
“Yes. Yeah. She is, we’ve talked to her, I’ve talked to her. She wants to stay busy. She’s been out of the cage for a year, and I think in the first round tonight she was kind of feeling out Denise [Kielholtz], and there is a little bit of cage rust maybe, but she got over that really quickly,” noted Martin. “So yeah she’s going to be back pretty soon, and I think Liz is the fight we make.”
A bidding war looks set to kick off for the services of Usman Nurmagomedov, the PFL lightweight champion, who defeated Archie Colgan on Friday care of a first-round knockout in the PFL New York main event.
“It sounds like he was starting to negotiate in the cage tonight,” Martin joked in reference to Nurmagomedov’s post-fight interview, where he noted that Jake Paul had been a frequent critic of the UFC’s fighter pay. “We had mutually agreed to hold off discussing his future with us or anywhere else until after tonight. So now I look forward to sitting down and finding out what he wants to do.”
“22-0, he’s an extraordinary young fighter, he’s still in his late 20s. So I’d love to be able to keep him here.”
“I really legitimately think he’s the best 155lb’er in the world,” Martin added.
“Justin Gaethje [UFC lightweight champion] was in the cage in Archie’s corner, Justin’s an outstanding fighter. If I had to take a wager on if those two fought, I would go with Usman. So we’ll see. We’ll see.”
Other topics brought up with Martin included the potential of a flyweight division in MVP, and whether crossover fights with the likes of RIZIN will continue. Muhammad Mokaev, for one, openly called for MVP to add a flyweight division, saying he’d sign with the company long term if they were to add one.
“I think it’s something we’re going to seriously consider. I was seriously considering it for PFL before this. I saw the Mokaev call out, and I think it’s something we’re going to take a very serious look at,” responded Martin. “It has the possibility to become a very dynamic division.”
When it comes to talent lending and crossovers, Martin remains “absolutely” open to continuing to talent share with the likes of RIZIN.
The fate of the PFL’s regional leagues, PFL Africa and PFL MENA, is a different matter. And a more murky one it seems.
“To be decided. Haven’t discussed it yet,” admitted Martin. “I’m a little bit of a mixed mind. I think in some respects, having a global brand and then JV development brands all being branded the same has caused some confusion in the marketplace.”
And so while there have been some congratulatory messages from the PFL’s backers, “that’s something that we’ll sit down and talk with the other investors. Because those leagues actually have other outside investors, I just sit on the board of them. So we’ll discuss that at the board level.”
Watch the full PFL New York post-fight press conference with PFL CEO John Martin above.
