What to Know
- The newly announced merger deal between MVP and PFL creates the potential for a serious competitor to the UFC
- The new deal opens the possibility of some long-awaited superfights, such as Ronda Rousey vs Crys Cyborg.
- The new deal will be in the spotlight at PFL New York on Saturday, July 31, live on ESPN.
Thursday’s merger announcement between Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) and the Professional Fighters League (PFL) set off shockwaves in the combat sports industry as MVP aims squarely at UFC and Zuffa.
The combined company will operate under the MVP banner. MVP will now oversee boxing, MMA, live events, athlete development, and worldwide content distribution under what it calls “one fighter-first organization, creating a combat sports company for the new era.”
The new company will be led by MVP’s co-founders and board members Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian, with PFL CEO John Martin serving as CEO of the new organization. Bidarian will continue to oversee MVP’s boxing business and blockbuster live events.
What it means long-term is unclear. In the short term, it’s clear the MVP aims to cut into the UFC’s hold on mixed martial arts by offering better terms and bigger purses to athletes. One thing is certain: UFC President and CEO Dana White won’t take it lying down.
MVP Becomes the Master Brand as MVP MMA
MVP becomes the master brand for all combat sports properties of the new entity. PFL has an elite MMA fighter roster, global league operations and infrastructure, media assets, and a proven ability to stage world-class MMA events worldwide. Migration to MVP MMA is expected in the coming months.
The combined company will host five premium live events across boxing and MMA in August, likely starting on Friday night, July 31, with PFL New York airing on ESPN from the UBS Arena starting at 4:30 p.m. ET/1:30 p.m. PT with the early card, and the main card at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT
PFL New York features several of its biggest stars sure to draw an audience, including the lightweight title fight between reigning champion Usman Nurmagomedov defending his belt against third-ranked Archie “King” Colgan in the main event, and Dakota Dicheva vs. Denise Keilholtz for the women’s flyweight title. Expect the new deal to take center stage and get plenty of airtime.
Ahead on August 22, Crys Cyborg is scheduled to appear in her final against Brazilian contender Ketlen Vieira in St. Petersburg, Florida, before retiring after 19 years of competition. But with the merger announcement, don’t be surprised if Cyborg stays in the mix, whether in MMA or in boxing.
Chatter about facing Claressa Shields in a boxing ring could ratchet back up. Shields has also dipped her toe in PFL’s MMA water. Stay tuned.
MVP Encouraged By Its First Event, MVP MMA 1
MVP’s first event, MVP MMA 1, featured the return of Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano, and heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. Although Rousey said she was one-and-done after defeating Carano in seconds, on Thursday she left the door open for a possible return. Could a Rousey vs Cyborg fight be brought back to life?
MVP will now feature nearly 400 elite athletes across combat sports. In Thursday’s statement, MVP said it intends to “invest aggressively” in both boxing and MMA.
MVP and PFL will maintain relationships with many of the world’s leading media and distribution partners, including Netflix, ESPN, Sky Sports, and PFL’s extensive network of 34 partners across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and other key territories, including Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand. Together, these relationships form one of the most comprehensive distribution platforms in combat sports
Since launching in 2021, MVP has become one of the fastest-growing and most influential brands in sports, staging some of the most-watched events the sport has ever seen and reaching hundreds of millions of fans around the world, with particular strength among hard-to-reach Gen Z, Gen Alpha, and women’s sports fans. MVP claims to have delivered the most-streamed sporting event of all time, the most-viewed professional women’s sporting match in U.S. history, and the most-streamed MMA event in U.S. history.
MVP has moved aggressively into women’s professional boxing, signing a significant roster of worldwide champions and offering record-setting compensation for female athletes across all sports.
PFL has built one of the most expansive global platforms in MMA, with a world-class roster of more than 300 fighters representing over 40 countries and a live event footprint spanning four continents.
In just over seven years, PFL has staged more than 100 premium live events across 14 countries and was the first organization to hold major MMA events in Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Spain and across Africa. In 2026 alone, PFL will produce 24 events across 11 countries, delivering approximately 150 hours of live content to fans.
“Since launching MVP, our goal has always been bigger than just building a boxing promotion. It has been to build the future of combat sports,” said Badarian.
“The success of MVP MMA’s first event confirmed our belief that there is enormous demand for a modern, fighter-first approach to MMA. This merger accelerates our MMA ambitions while strengthening our ability to continue investing in boxing and MVPW. By combining MVP’s audience-building engine, storytelling capabilities, and brand with PFL’s roster, infrastructure, and international footprint, we are creating a new global home for combat sports,” added Badarian.
“We’re not just combining companies, we’re bringing an entire combat sports community together and creating a more powerful platform to accelerate growth,” said Martin. “One company, one global stage, millions of fans and we’re only just getting started. I’m excited to work with Jake and Nakisa as we build the future of combat sports together, and I’m deeply grateful for the continued confidence and support of our lead investors, 885 Capital and Knighthead Capital Management.”
Aiming Squarely at Dana White and UFC?
“We started MVP to disrupt a broken model,” said Jake Paul. “We wanted to give fighters fair pay and a bigger, modernized stage to become global superstars. Joining forces with PFL accelerates that vision by a decade.
“We now have a scaled platform to give today’s fans what they want: elite talent mixed with culture, lifestyle, and massive social velocity. MVP was always bigger than me and bigger than any one fighter. MVP is an inevitable movement that needs to happen for the athletes, and now we have all the resources we need to build something that changes this sport forever.”
Paul then issued a public message to his talent roster and to others who might be looking for a new home.
“To all current MVP and PFL fighters, things just got bigger. To fighters fighting in other organizations, we are open for business when you are contractually free. The time for change is now. Welcome to MVP.”
The Winner: Combat Sports Fans
What’s certain no matter which athletes and personalities emerge: Competition is good for combat sports fans. MVP has consistently done its best to make a splash. The UFC currently has no serious competitors in its lane. With this new entity and the early success of Paul’s ventures in and out of sports. Dana White and the UFC will be forced to take him seriously.
Make no mistake, we know Dana White is watching. He immediately snatched up Salahdine Parnasse after his starmaking turn on MVP MMA 1.
The presence of MVP on multiple linear and streaming platforms presents far more flexibility than the UFC’s single Paramount+ channel. Stay tuned.
Additional leadership, organizational, and operational details will be announced at a later date.
As part of the transaction, existing PFL shareholders 885 Capital, an investment firm based in the United Arab Emirates, and affiliated entities of Knighthead Capital Management, LLC (“Knighthead Capital”), a UK investment firm with holdings in soccer, NASCAR, and cricket, are becoming founding investors of the new entity.
Gayle Falkenthal is an award-winning boxing journalist with more than four dozen awards for both written and video coverage from the Boxing Writers Association of America, Society of Professional Journalists, and San Diego Press Club, where she is the past president. She is the only woman journalist who is a full voting member of the BWAA. She is the Boxing Editor for NY Fights based in San Diego, California.
