The Professional Fighters’ League is going all over the world this year as they continue their aggressive push to become MMA’s biggest promotion.
CEO Peter Murray, a veteran of NFL and Endeavour, took over the PFL in 2018. And he has overseen a tumultuous few years, with 2024 set to be the promotion’s biggest yet as they continue their attack on the world MMA market.
The promotion’s backbone is the global season, which consists of a series of American events where fighters compete in a group stage tournament to crown a $1million champion. But they have taken that a few steps further with similar style competitions in the Middle East and Europe in recent months.
PFL CEO Peter Murray spells out plans for the Champions League of MMA
Murray and his team that includes business partner Donn Davis and an extensive backroom staff will bring their season format to Africa in the coming few months. And they will then extend into Asia and even Australia as their brand grows worldwide.
In November of last year, PFL bought out competitor Bellator, who they are keeping alive through events such as their Paris outing at the Accor Arena tonight. And that will all play a part in their business strategy going forward.
“Our vision is to advance and grow the sport of MMA,” Murray told Bloody Elbow in an exclusive sitdown. “We want to expand our global league and while we’re a challenger brand and a disruptor, we know what we’re solving for.
“We’re creating the Champions League of MMA with our season formats around the world. We have the global season, PFL Europe and PFL MENA. Next year we will launch PFL Africa and Australia and then in 2026 we launch in Latin America and Asia.
“And that’s alongside the Bellator franchise within our portfolio. So we’re presenting the very best of MMA across those brands with 30 events for fans. 60 per cent of those events are outside of the US as well, this is international. Next year there will be 40 events and 50 in 2026.”
Peter Murray aims to live alongside UFC as MMA ‘co-leader’
Of course, PFL is still miles behind industry leader UFC, which launched over 30 years ago and took an almost monopolistic control over the sport. Many casual viewers even colloquially refer to MMA as ‘UFC’, but this is something they plan to challenge.
Murray is clearly inspired by soccer as a businessman, and also takes his knowledge from American Football into his business planning. And he has brought in some big names to disrupt the space, including UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul.
“This fanbase is the third largest fanbase behind global football and basketball,” he noted. “We’re talking about 650million fans according to Nielsen data, youngest fanbase of all traditional sports with a median age of 35.
“The UFC has a total of what, 40 or so events? How many football matches are happening this week with the world’s top leagues and teams? So this sport, there’s no saturation in it and this fanbase demands access to more quality competition with top fighters and top fights.
“UFC cannot fulfil it all and we’re creating opportunities for the whole ecosystem and doing it in a way that I believe is based on true sport principles. This will truly advance and grow the sport and cement it as mainstream and professional.”