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Last week, it was officially announced the PFL had acquired Bellator MMA. It wasn’t a surprise to anyone as the rumors had been abound for months given the financial struggles of Paramount Global, Bellator’s parent company. It wasn’t unwelcome news either as Donn Davis, the chairman of the PFL, has already been discussing the possibility of super fights between the two promotions as he intends to allow Bellator to operate as a separate entity for the time being.
While it is good Bellator will continue on, it’s an inevitability the promotion will cease to exist before too long. The popularity of the organization waned over the last few years as its televised home was always changing, making it difficult for fans to maintain familiarity. After all, the UFC announced similar intentions with Strikeforce over a decade ago when it bought out their top rival at the time, only for Strikeforce to officially dissolve less than two years after the purchase.
But who are the real winners and losers of this situation? We’ve had time to absorb the situation — perhaps too much time — and things have settled enough to offer a fair assessment. The situation changes the overall landscape of the MMA world, creating a new world for the sport. For some, it is for the better. For others, it is for the worst. I’ll break down the biggest winners and losers of the situation, both in terms of legacy and current status.
Winners
The PFL
It isn’t entirely clear how the cross promotion super fights will be taking place given the PFL operates in a regular season and playoff format, but make no mistake the majority of them will take place under the PFL, if not all of them. Even if the name recognition of the fighters in Bellator is superior – the likes of Cris Cyborg, Ryan Bader, and Gegard Mousasi benefit from their UFC exposure more than Larissa Pacheco and Olivier Aubin-Mercier – the PFL is presently the superior product. More importantly, it’s Davis’ baby, his legacy.
Given there’s no doubt who Davis will be giving preferential treatment to, it also solidifies PFL’s status as the #2 MMA organization. The only other organizations that aren’t seen as a feeder league are ONE Championship and Rizin and they’re a distant third if one looks at the PFL and Bellator as separate entities under the same roof. Plus, they’re a stronger #2 to the UFC than they’ve ever been. After all, they’ll have Bellator fighters on their cards at this point.
Fans
This goes hand in hand with PFL benefitting as if they are getting more eyes upon their product, it’s because more fans are watching. If more fans are watching, that means there are more fights the fans are interested in seeing. It makes the idea of Kayla Harrison vs. Cris Cyborg a reality. Vadim Nemkov is doing a great job of clearing out the Bellator light heavyweight division. Perhaps an upstart Impa Kasanganay can offer a challenge fans are interested in.
Given the season format employed by PFL, there’s a fair reason to question just how many of the super fights we might see if they aren’t matched up at the beginning of the regular season. That said, the PFL has already displayed a willingness to make one-off contests that are interesting. For instance, the recently signed Derek Brunson scored a win over Ray Cooper III in a contest that had no bearing on the 2023 season. If the fans want to see a particular contest bad enough, I have no doubt Davis will make it happen.
Bjorn Rebney
The amount of talent that Bellator developed and/or spotlighted under Rebney is incredible. Pat Curran. Ben Askren. Michael Chandler. Eddie Alvarez. Hector Lombard. At the very least, it could be argued each were at the height of their powers during their time under his watch. Several others, such as the Pitbull brothers, reached their heights after Rebney was let go. Regardless, Rebney deserves credit for signing them in the first place. Ultimately, while Rebney proved to be highly unpopular, he wasn’t the one oversaw the demise of Bellator.
Rebney stubbornly held onto the tournament format, to the point it played a big part in costing him his job as president in 2014. While Rebney should have been open to tweaking the format, it looks like he could have been more right than wrong. The tournament format gave Bellator a unique identity. After Rebney’s demise, it looked more like UFC senior tour, taking in all the retreads the UFC was done with. Being UFC-lite isn’t going to elevate anyone. When a fan can only dedicate so much time, they’ll pick the original over the inferior imitation every time. For all his faults, Rebney was well aware of that fact.
The UFC
This may be a bit of a surprise to some that the UFC would be included here. After all, their primary competition is now stronger. However, even with the merger, the UFC is still leaps and bounds ahead of the PFL in terms of depth and star power. But that isn’t what makes the UFC a winner in this scenario. What makes the UFC a winner in all this is it eliminates a potential destination other than themselves for free agent fighters.
Make no mistake, if the UFC really wants someone, they have the money to pay up. However, with one less organization bidding on fighters, it’s likely the UFC might be able to keep and/or acquire some talent they wouldn’t have otherwise. It’s likely to lower their costs for some of the talent as well. They may not be saying too much about the merger right now, but there’s no doubt the UFC is perfectly fine with this outcome.
Losers
Free Agents
This goes hand in hand with the UFC being a winner in this situation. If there’s one less organization to bid on talent, that also means there’s less of a chance of fighters getting the premium payday they are hoping to receive. The more options a fighter has, the more leverage it has in negotiations. While it’s possible the PFL could prove more profitable after the merger – and opening up more money for free agents – that seems highly unlikely in the short term.
There’s always the possibility of an upstart organization emerging, but it generally takes a few years for those to establish themselves. BKFC has emerged as an option, but their rule set makes them less appealing for mat fighters. Perhaps celebrity boxing is out there, but a degree of name recognition is required for that to prove profitable. Thus, it isn’t a great option for those on the up-and-up. Regardless, less options is always a bad thing in the career field.
Scott Coker
I don’t believe the demise of Bellator is the fault of Coker. The president of Bellator was given a difficult hand, one few could have played better. It wasn’t his fault Bellator bounced around from network to network. Given Bellator was owned by Paramount, there was no good reason they shouldn’t have had a steady home, their biggest issue in gaining traction. But the blame is going to go towards someone in the front office and he’s the most visible option for the uneducated to blame.
The other thing that hurts Coker is he was also the President of Strikeforce when it was absorbed by the UFC. The fact there are many echoes from his Strikeforce days doesn’t help his case either. There was a large amount of Strikeforce retreads he brought into Bellator, including Fedor Emelianenko, Josh Thomson, and Muhammed Lawal. Both times the organization was airing on Showtime by the time the end was inevitable too. All those Fair or not, Coker is going to shoulder most of the blame.
The Bellator Legacy
This is obvious. Unfortunately, Bellator was unable to build up the cache of warm vibes Pride was able to do before it folded. While it’s easy to understand why – Pride was the premier MMA organization at one point, Bellator never was – its a shame as there isn’t a shortage of memories. Toby Imada submitting Jorge Masvidal. Alvarez and Chandler’s two epic contests. Emanuel Newton’s spinning back fist KO of Muhammed Lawal. AJ McKee stunning Patricio Pitbull in two minutes.
There is still time for more memories to be made, but the writing is on the wall. Bellator will be gone and while I wouldn’t say it was a failure – after all, everything must come to an end – it does feel like Bellator could have been more than what it was. I’ve touched on a few reasons, but there’s been several other articles over several websites discussing that. Regardless, Bellator will be missed, even if it won’t be missed by as many as one might expect.