Professional Fighters League (PFL) News

Tom Taylor - July 20, 2018

Last night, The Professional Fighters League (PFL) took over the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, New York with PFL 4. This action-packed event featured the final regular season bouts for PFL’s heavyweight and featherweight divisions, meaning that seven fighters in both of these weight classes have now clinched playoffs spots. These fighters will meet in the playoffs later this year, with the winner capturing the divisional championship and a $1 million dollar payday.

Tom Taylor - July 6, 2018

Last night, the Professional Fighters League (PFL) touched down in Washington DC with PFL 3. This event featured the opening rounds for the league’s welterweight and middleweight seasons, and just like their first two shows, it was an absolute thriller. In the main event, former Strikeforce middleweight champion and UFC welterweight title challenger Jake Shields was absolutely whooped by a relative unknown in Ray Cooper III. This massive upset came with an interesting footnote, as Shields had twice battled Cooper’s father, Ray Cooper II, going 1-1. So, this was not just “Jake Shields vs. Ray Cooper III” in the sense that Shields was fighting Ray Cooper the third. It was also Jake Shields vs. Ray Cooper III in the sense that it was Shield’s third fight with an opponent named Ray Cooper. Like I said… an interesting footnote.

Tom Taylor - June 25, 2018

The Professional Fighter’s League has produced some pretty incredible knockouts over the course of brief time on our screens, and it’s done so entirely without elbow strikes. No, elbows are not allowed in the PFL cage.

Tom Taylor - June 22, 2018

Last night, the Professional Fighters League touched down in Chicago, Illinois with the second card of its inaugural season. This card featured light heavyweight and lightweight bouts. In the main event, we saw former Bellator lightweight champ and UFC contender Will Brooks rebound from a three-fight skid, making a successful PFL debut with a 3-point decision defeat of Luiz Firmino.

Drake Riggs - June 8, 2018

Is it becoming a trend for fighters to get into fights in the crowds of events for different organizations than their own?

Tom Taylor - June 6, 2018

Tomorrow night, the Professional Fighters League (PFL) will kickstart its inaugural season with PFL 1, inside the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden. Ahead of this exciting night of fights, which will feature first-round heavyweight and featherweight tournament bouts, the 24 fighters on the bill will weigh in for their respective battles. Watch these PFL 1 weigh-ins live, right here, on BJPENN.COM at 4:00pm ET. The stacked PFL 1 card will feature a host of MMA notables, from former World Series of Fighting and Bellator champions, to UFC veterans.

Tom Taylor - May 31, 2018

On June 7 in New York City, the Professional Fighters League (PFL) will kick off its inaugural season with the first round of its heavyweight and featherweight tournaments.

bjpenndotcom - May 14, 2018

Professional Fighters League (PFL) Announces Full Fight Card and Ticket Sales For PFL3 Live at the Charles E. Smith Center in Washington, D.C. on July 5 Jake Shields Will Take on Ray Cooper to Headline the 12-Bout Card; Abubakar Nurmagomedov Will Also Battle Pavlo Kusch in the Cage

Tom Taylor - April 16, 2018

The Professional Fighters League (PFL), which rose from the ashes of the defunct World Series of Fighting, launches it’s inaugural season on June 7 at The Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden. Ahead of this debut, the rebranded promotion has revealed the pertinent details. The members of each division will compete in a tournament over the coming months, and the winners of these initial bouts will advance to divisional playoffs. The winner of these playoffs will allegedly pocket $1,000,000, while the semi-finalists and runners up will also receive hefty purses.

Tom Taylor - June 22, 2017

Earlier this year, we learned that the well-established MMA promotion World Series of Fighting was being rebranded as the Professional Fighters League (PFL). This rebranded organization will seek to revolutionize the MMA landscape by providing fighters with salaries, using tournaments to ensure title shots, and awarding tournament winners with a whopping million dollars. On the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio, kickboxing legend and PFL boss Ray Sefo joined host Kinch to discuss this new initiative. “The team and I sat down, and the name was developed, and everybody agreed it was a good name, and it was that time” Sefo said of the rebranding process. “Change is always good. As long as it’s positive, it’s always good. Obviously the format, it makes it a professional fighters league where everybody has an opportunity to step up and fight regularly. Let me back up a little bit. Running a promotion, one of the things that you hear the most is that fighters are not active enough. The Professional Fighter’s League is going to provide that missing link in terms of fighters being active. Obviously for us, in 2018, it’s going to be 12 fighters per division. That’s going to change in 2019, it’s going to be 16 fighters per division moving forward. But the league is going to provide a lot of different things that fighters complain about [not getting]. Not fighting enough, not fighting for a world title, and not making enough money. The professional fighters league is going to provide all that and more. The team and I are very happy with the structure and the way we put it together.”

Tom Taylor - April 19, 2017

For many years, World Series of Fighting (WSOF), has stood out as arguably the third-biggest MMA promotion in the world, behind the UFC and Bellator. The promotion has been home to recognizable names like Justin Gaethje, Marlon Moraes, David Branch, Jon Fitch, Jake Shields, Rousimar Palhares, Thiago Silva, Matt Hamill, Vinny Magalhaes, Blagoy Ivanov, Josh Copeland, Shawn Jordan, Lance Palmer, Yushin Okami, and others. And now, it is is no more. In a development that has seemed likely for some time, the promotion has closed its doors. It will now operate under new ownership and under a new name: The Professional Fighters League (PFL). The Washington Post explains: