When the Professional Fighters League (PFL) rose from the ashes of World Series of Fighting (WSOF) and announced its format, many within the mixed martial arts community appreciated the distinct approach the promotion wanted to bring to the landscape, but were skeptical that things would play out the way the promotion anticipated.
At a time when the impact of wins and losses felt at an all-time low in other organizations, here was the PFL looking to take a very traditional sports-based approach to MMA by introducing a regular seasons format where fighters accrued points for their performance, with the top eight fighters in each division moving forward to a single-elimination playoff round that would not only determine the first collection of champions in the company’s history, but also net the victors a cool $1 million payday.
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Tournaments are fraught with injuries and there have been too many instances where alternates or replacements have ended up emerging victorious for observers to bank on the top competitors in each division to not only remain healthy throughout the regular season, but the playoffs as well.
And saying you’re going to pay divisional champs a million dollars sounds great and looks incredible in the opening praragraph of an article or press release, but few expected those hefty sums to actually be handed over once the initial season concluded.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the PFL turning out like so many other ambitious newcomers with big plans: The fighters stayed healthy, the bouts were entertaining, the playoffs went off without a hitch and all six competitors who were crowned champions on New Year’s Eve in New York City were handed oversized checks, $1 million apiece.
Season Two is set to kick off this week at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, New York and in addition to having fewer doubters, the PFL also has a broadcast distribution deal with ESPN in the United States and its counterpart TSN in Canada, giving fight fans who can’t wait until the weekend to get their fix the opportunity to satisfy their cravings with some Thursday night face-punching.
Along with the newly-inked television deal, some smart additions to the roster and the sound approach of looking to build around a potential breakout star in Olympic judoka Kayla Harrison, the PFL enters in a position to be much more than just a curiosity in Season Two.
The question is will the move to ESPN and the promotion’s more traditional sports-based approach allow the second-year organization to thrive?
One of the chief complaints of fans when it comes to following MMA is that it often feels like there is no rhyme or reason to how bouts are made, especially at the top end, and tracking contenders and the impact of individual results is daunting. Opportunities aren’t determined strictly by wins and losses and even though there are various rankings available, each one has its flaws and they’re much more of a guide to the top talents in each weight class than an accurate portrayal of who stands where in their respective divisions.
Sports fans understanding standings and the PFL format is simple to follow, as a victory is worth three points, a loss is worth zero and competitors can earn bonus points based on if and when they finish their fights. After each event, the standings are updated and there is no picking and choosing of who moves forward into the playoffs or gets the next championship opportunity — if you earn enough points, you advance and from there, it’s single-elimination like March Madness or the NFL Playoffs.
The other thing that works in the PFL’s favor is that its entire schedule for Season 2 is laid out, again, much like traditional sports leagues.
Fans know in advance that the regular season is made up of two fights for each competitor and will be wrapped on August 8, with the first playoff event scheduled for October 11 and the Championship already on the books for December 31. From start to finish, everything will be completed in eight months and just about every fight on every card has playoff implications.
While the format eliminates some of the difficulty that comes with knowing who to follow and which fights matter most in other promotions, landing on ESPN gives the PFL an opportunity to put its product in front of a sizable audience and benefit from the added exposure that comes with being in a broadcast deal with “The Worldwide Leader.”
Though it’s still in its infancy, the UFC’s deal with ESPN has already produced positive returns as the amount of coverage the MMA leader receives has not only increased, but also become increasingly more detailed and nuanced and substantive.
For the first time in its history, the UFC is covered in the same manner as North America’s traditional major sporting leagues and while the PFL can’t expect the same kind of real estate the UFC receives, simply being on ESPN is a major step forward for the second-year promotion and will surely drive new fans to check out the product in Season Two.
Building a lightweight tournament around Harrison this season is a wise decision as well, though former Strikeforce and Invicta FC bantamweight champion Sarah Kaufman has designs on spoiling the party by toppling the currently unbeaten prospect and claiming the $1 million prize herself.
The 28-year-old Harrison won gold at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics and is the kind of polished, professional competitor who can be the face of the organization.
Rather than push her to make the featherweight limit or continuing to give her one-off showcase opportunities, the PFL brass made the right decision to construct a tournament around her, filling the bracket with mostly inexperienced competitors, while rounding it out with Kaufman, a dangerous life-long bantamweight, and Larissa Pacheco, a former hot prospect who has fought just once in the last four years, failed to make it into the house on Season 28 of The Ultimate Fighter and has never competed above featherweight in the past.
The expectation is that Harrison and Kaufman will end up meeting in the finals, with the lightweight title and $1 million payday hanging in the balance and if that’s how things play out, it will be a victory for the promotion.
And while Harrison has the most obvious star potential, she’s far from the only competitor of note set to compete in Season Two.
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Current champions Philipe Lins (heavyweight), Magomed Magomedkerimov (welterweight; pictured above), Natan Schulte (lightweight), and Lance Palmer (featherweight) are all back to defend their titles, while familiar names like Satoshi Ishii, Jordan Johnson, Chris Curtis, David Michaud, Damon Jackson and Jeremy Kennedy have all been added to the roster and enter the season with lofty expectations.
The PFL has built a solid stable of talent and delivered a season filled with upsets and excitement last year and there is no reason to believe the organization won’t take another step forward in Season Two.