PFL welterweight Don Madge is one of the rare fighters to leave the UFC on a winning streak, and now he’s fighting for a $1million prize.
The former lightweight had just two fights under the UFC banner after signing in 2018, winning both of those outings. But with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and a struggle to get matched, he left the promotion and joined PFL.
After leaving for PFL he had two fights at lightweight, but has since ditched his massive 40lb+ cuts. He is already on six points after a first round submission of Brennan Ward in the opening bout of the 2024 welterweight regular season.
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Exclusive: Don Madge explains why he left UFC for PFL in surprise move
A difficult 2020 and 2021 saw Madge struggle to book a fight. And when he did manage to get one signed against Guram Kutateladze it was rescheduled on a number of occasions after injuries and visa issues on both sides.
Speaking exclusively with Bloody Elbow, Madge explained that eventually frustrations took over on both ends between he and the UFC. Eventually they parted ways, and he is now pushing for gold and $1million in the PFL regular season.
“It’s not a fit for everybody,” Madge said of MMA’s top promotion. “It wasn’t the right fit for me and it’s always been a dream for me and for every fighter to make it into the UFC or any major promotion and I guess it was just a bit of disappointment with canceled bouts.
“There were covid lockdowns and just frustration, really. That’s frustration with me, frustration with them, it just seemed like a better idea for us to go our separate ways.”
Don Madge embraces the PFL’s season format over sporadic UFC fights
He is much more comfortable with the PFL’s intensive season format, which awards its winner with a massive seven-figure prize. But to get there you must pass through two regular season bouts, win a playoff and then a grand final, meaning four fights in around seven months.
“If you’re playing any other sport like football or basketball you know your season,” he continued. “You know that this week you’ve got this match, then this game and that game and that let’s you also know your potential for earning for the year.
“You can do things outside of the sport because of that, knowing your schedule and knowing ‘okay, this is my season, my off-season’ and if we’re going to call MMA a sport then it has to be treated like a sport. You don’t know when you’re going to fight and then you get offered one ‘oh and it’s in four weeks’.
“So you have to get ready and if we are going to be professionals then we need to be treated like professionals. You need adequate time to prepare for fights, adequate time for scheduling so that even though I’m a fighter, it doesn’t have to be something that defines me.
“I’m a man and I have a life outside of fighting and I always have. So as soon as something starts taking your life over and you’re sitting by your phone waiting for a short-notice call it kind of takes the enjoyment out of doing this.”
Don Madge competes in the second round of PFL regular season welterweight fights this Friday against Neiman Gracie. Find out how to watch here.
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