PFL-Bellator Headed Toward A Nasty 'Trainwreck'
11/28/2024 01:10 PM
Over the last few days, several disgruntled Bellator MMA fighters have come forward to express their frustration at the lack of fights they have been getting since the Professional Fighters League (PFL) merger in Nov. 2023.
To make matters worse for the PFL higher-ups is the fact that the combatants coming forward are all current or former champions, including Patricio Pitbull, Patchy Mix and Corey Anderson, who have each only competed once since the mega-deal a year ago.
Check it out:
I am very worried about the future of Bellator and MMA in general. I feel very sorry for all the fighters who didn't even get to fight this year or were cut because they just don't make shows or think they're expensive, and all the fighters who were forced to take paycuts.
— Patricio Pitbull (@PatricioPitbull) November 24, 2024
Aging like warm cheese over here waiting for @PFLMMA to give me a call. But don't get it twisted.... we still ready to defend the strap against ANYBODY! Young or Old!!#andstill@BellatorMMA@DonnDavisPFL@PeteMurrayPFL@AliAbdelaziz00pic.twitter.com/zORqlhdbWt
— Corey 'Overtime' Anderson (@CoreyA_MMA) November 21, 2024
I've been training my ass off for the last half of year for nothing. This is frustrating in the prime of my career and I've had my fight in November cancelled?
— Patchy Mix (@TeamMixMMA) November 23, 2024
Then now again I'm being told I'm off January Dubai card? I am the best in the world and I want to fight to prove it
This is very frustrating. We have no clue about when we might be fighting after two fight cancellations in a row. Time is of the essence in this game,we can't waste our primes on the sidelines. I'm working hard to take that title, spending money, sweat and blood. What's going on? https://t.co/2hJ7smu9wd
— Leandro Higo (@LeandroHigoMMA) November 24, 2024
Of course, those are just the select few who have come forward publicly.
Now, former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) contender, Matt Brown, is chiming in on the situation with Bellator, and he didn't mince any words by saying that PFL has not handled the merger well, at all.
"It sucks," he said The Fighter vs. The Writer via MMA Fighting. "Because all these guys are in the their prime, too, and they're essentially wasting their prime waiting on this organization to figure out their shit. PFL-Bellator, it just seems like a mess really. The merger with everything, it just seems like there's not a lot of organization.
"There's a fight happening this weekend that nobody even really knows is happening. I think they lost their ass on the [Francis] Ngannou fight. It just seems like a trainwreck. The rails are just slipping off little by little," he added before saying that the fighters are not only losing out on time, but money, which may be the big culprit behind the lack of fights offered.
"What other reason could there possibly be? If they had the money, they would be wanting these guys to fight," Brown said. "This is all their premier fighters that they acquired with Bellator. Of course they want these guys to fight, get them out there and put on shows for the fans. Us hardcore fans that do follow Bellator, these are the guys we want to see fight. I want to see Gegard Mousasi fight. Guys like Patchy Mix that are in their prime, they should be fighting. I want to see him fight. I want to see Aaron Pico fight. I want to see Corey Anderson fight.
"This is just a bad, bad look, especially when these guys start coming out publicly about it. It just looks terrible for PFL-Bellator. Looks like a train wreck on its way. The train's going to fall off at some point and explode."
Many were hoping to see several big fights once the two promotions came together, but other than the PFL vs. Bellator 'Seize the Throne" event at the beginning of the year that saw Bellator fighters go 5-1 against PFL, there really hasn't been much traction on that front.
Earlier this year, former Bellator Middleweight champion, Gegard Mousasi, filed a lawsuit against PFL for not living up to the monetary contract extension he signed with Bellator in 2020. When you couple the legal troubles with more and more fighters coming out to express their frustrations, things are looking rather gloomy for PFL going into 2025.
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