The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is an American mixed martial arts league founded by venture capitalist Donn Davis in 2017 and launched in 2018, following the acquisition and restructuring of the former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) promotion in 2017 by MMAX Investment Partners. It is the first major MMA organization in which individual athletes compete in a regular season, post-season and championship, rather than on a year-round basis.
The PFL currently puts on fights across six weight-divisions: featherweight, women's lightweight, lightweight, welterweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight. In addition to this, there is also a ‘Super Fight’ division, which isn't defined by weight, but instead is based on the status and name value of individuals who compete in it. The PFL's matches are held inside a 10-sided mixed martial arts cage known as the SmartCage, and adhere to the unified rules of mixed martial arts, with the exception that the PFL prohibits all elbow strikes.
The PFL's inaugural event took place on June 7, 2018, at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. At the end, each champion of the six weight classes won a championship prize of $1 million each.
History
Founding and WSOF acquisition
The World Series of Fighting (WSOF) was formed in 2012, after signing a broadcast deal with the NBC Sports Network. Soon after WSOF's first event was announced, it would be confirmed that Bas Rutten and Michael Schiavello would serve as commentators. Jazz Securo was the official voice and Ring Announcer of WSOF. The WSOF held over 35 events in multiple countries including the United States, Canada, Japan, China and the Philippines, and was best known for featuring fighters such as Justin Gaethje, Marlon Moraes and Lance Palmer.
In 2017, MMAX Investment Partners, a group of McLean, Virginia investors, which included financier Russ Ramsey, Mark Leschly, businessman Ted Leonsis, Washington Nationals' owner Mark Lerner and future Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin, acquired the assets of the WSOF. It was announced that the WSOF would be restructured as the Professional Fighters League (PFL), with owner Davis as founder and with the inaugural season taking place in 2018. After the restructuring, WSOF CEO Carlos Silva and WSOF president and co-founder Ray Sefo joined PFL. Silva as president of PFL and Sefo as president of fight operations. Sefo was previously an MMA fighter and a six-time Muay Thai world champion. In January 2018, former National Football League executive Peter Murray was appointed CEO of the league. That year, in its inaugural season as the PFL, the promotion introduced a league model, the first MMA promotion to do so.
2020–2021
Following a partnership with blockchain reward app Socios.com in October 2020, PFL launched a fan non-fungible token (NFT) and became the first sports league to launch such a token. In February 2021, PFL announced a $65 million financing round which expanded the total funding to $175 million. The funding round was led by Ares Capital, Elysian Park Ventures, and Knighthead Capital.
In March 2021, Hall of Fame American football player Ray Lewis joined the PFL athlete advisory board.
In April 2021, former NFL running back Marshawn Lynch and rapper Wiz Khalifa both became PFL investors. Lynch joined the ownership group, while Khalifa serves as an advisor. That same month, DraftKings was named the first official sportsbook and daily fantasy partner of the PFL. DraftKings would sponsor the league's pre-fight shows and use their in-fighting technology and capturing real-time data for future prop bets.
In August 2021, PFL announced a long-term partnership with Legends Hospitality, with the company purchasing a minority ownership stake.