Buying Bellator Would Be Horrible For PFL

Selling and Buying MMA:

Kingdoms rise and fall all the time. But there are always long term ripples that tell the true story of such. Buying Bellator would be horrible for PFL in their growth as an organization. Sure, this is not the days of the WORLD SERIES OF FIGHTING. The era of David Branch and Louis Taylor are long past.

Showtime across the network’s board has been downsizing tremendously. Major talent instead of being refined were given their pink slips without a thank you. Talents that remained were told to scratch their former partners names from their lips. A fate that could be described as worse than having 100 plagues at the same time. Even lepers aren’t treated that badly.

As a society we live in a split second patience. That in itself makes the days of yore that much sweeter. To hear Scott Coker admit his pride and joy; BELLATOR MMA is up for sale has to sting more than he will ever admit. This would be the second-time the sale bug bit him. First Dana White and the Fertitta’s snagged STRIKEFORCE, and now this.

A PFL purchase buy Ray Sefo and the powers that be would place them on the headline mountain for a while. But would it be the smart business move is another question. This past PFL season there were 75-fighters under contract across six-divisions, plus Claressa Shields and Kayla Harrison. Bellator has roughly 180-fighters through nine-divisions. Including three that are not in the PFL format: middleweight, female flyweight, and bantamweight.

Buying Bellator Would Be A Questionable Move

When the UFC gobbled up Strikeforce and PRIDE, contracts were either absorbed into the UFC, or terminated. If that happens here would be anyone’s guess. But unless the PFL has plans to completely overhaul it’s format after spending millions to build it, it leaves about 80-fighters in a limbo-like abyss. Either their fight cards would have to expand, or their season would grow. When asked, fighters there love the semi-quick turn arounds in a regular season format. With fights spaced further apart because of such expansion they loose a MAJOR PFL selling point.

As we’ve seen in the world recently, supply and demand issues can be horrible for all. Place 80ish free agents out there… at the same time will actually lower fighter pay, not increase it. Which defeats one thing that the PFL’s biggest free agent signing, Francis Ngannou argues for. And a big talking point for JAKE PAUL. Why would White, Chatri Sityodtong at ONE, or Shannon Knapp at INVICTA FC pay a premium with so much out there.

The PFL has worked hard on it’s pipeline system the Challenger Series and PFL Europe. Those fighters as well have their options limited in getting into the huge US market. Why grab a name with no recognition attached to it, when names like Aaron Pico, Cat Zingano, and Steve Mowry sit out there.

They could use every fighter they take to grow their pay-per-view division. However, the ppv format is a dying one across sports. So while the organization has an insane bank roll now, there are better ways to use that capital. Fight night production value, other things “fans” don’t see behind the scenes, just bumping up present fighter contracts. Buying out another company that you can use about 35% of their product just because you can, seems like something you shouldn’t do.

Showtime just needs a little retooling and stay the course. Some things are more important than making a buck or two… or a zillion. Bellator’s a home for countless people in and out of the cage. It’s a treasure that should be held onto.