The Professional Fighters League, formerly the World Series of Fighting, is a mixed martial arts league. It is the first professional MMA organization to present MMA in a format in which individual athletes compete in a regular season, “win-or-go-home” post-season, and championship. PFL debuted its inaugural season on June 7, 2018 at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. In 2018, each champion in the six weight classes won a championship prize of $1 million each.
Predecessor Promotion History
The World Series of Fighting formed in 2012, having signed a broadcast deal with the NBC Sports Network. Soon after the promotion's event announcement, WSOF confirmed Bas Rutten and Michael Schiavello would be commentators for the debut event. In September 2013, commentator Kenny Rice, reporter Joey Varner, and ring announcer Jazz Securo were acquired and debuted. Todd Harris, who was under contract with NBC Sports, was the main play-by-play announcer. WSOF held 35 events.
International Promotions
In 2013, WSOF started the WSOF Global Championship brand that featured events in Japan, China, Philippines, and other destinations.
New Ownership
In 2017, MMAX Investment Partners, a group of Reston, Virginia investors, acquired a controlling stake in the WSOF. In April of the same year, they renamed the organization the Professional Fighters League.
Fight Format and Point System
PFL uses the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts regulated by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The League uses a unique ten-sided cage for their events. The eight fighters with the most points in each weight class advance to the playoff rounds. The point system consists of outcome-based scoring and bonuses for an early win. Under the outcome-based scoring system, the winner of a fight receives three points and the loser receives zero points. If the fight ends in a draw, both fighters will receive one point. The bonus for winning a fight in the first, second, or third round is three points, two points, and one point, respectively. For example, if a fighter wins a fight in the first round, the fighter will receive six total points. Win in any round automatically = 3 points Bonus points: Round 1 = 3 points Round 2 = 2 points Round 3 = 1 point
2020 PFL season
The complete PFL 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a measure to relieve the financial pressure of the athletes, the organization decided to hand out monthly stipends to the contracted fighters. Which was recently made public by a disgruntled employee as an embarrassing $1,000 a month for only 5 out of an 18 month PFL season.
2019 PFL season
Season Format
The PFL 2019 regular season consisted of six weight classes and six events spanning from May to August. Playoffs consisted of three events and the season culminates with the Championship Event on New Year's Eve 2019.
As of June 2019, The PFL second season roster includes 68 fighters in six weight classes, including a new Women's Lightweight division.
Broadcast distribution
Regular season events and playoff matches air on ESPN+ and ESPN2. The Championship Event on New Year's Eve will air exclusively on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes. In Canada, PFL events are aired exclusively on TSN.
The PFL 2018 season had 72 fighters in six weight-classes, competing in seven regular season events on Thursday nights in June, July, and August. The top eight in each weight-class faced off in bracket-style, single elimination playoff fights on Saturday nights in October. The PFL 2018 season concluded on December 31, 2018 with six championship bouts back-to-back with a $10 million prize pool.
2018 Events
In 2018, the seven regular season events were held at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, the Chicago Theatre, GWU Smith Center, Nassau Coliseum, and Ocean Resort Casino. The playoff events was held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, the Long Beach Arena, and the St. Elizabeths East Entertainment and Sports Arena. The championship event was held at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden. PFL1-7 events of the regular season, playoff events and the championship event were scheduled as follows:
Thursday, June 7: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Thursday, June 21: Chicago Theater, Chicago, IL
Thursday, July 5: GWU Smith Center, Washington, D.C.
Thursday, July 19: Nassau Coliseum, Long Island, NY
Thursday, August 2: Nassau Coliseum, Long Island, NY
Thursday, August 16: Ocean Resort Casino, Atlantic City, NJ
Thursday, August 30: Ocean Resort Casino, Atlantic City, NJ
Friday, October 5: Playoff Event, Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, New Orleans, LA
Saturday, October 13: Playoff Event, Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, CA
Saturday, October 20: Playoff Event, St. Elizabeths East Entertainment and Sports Arena, Washington D.C.
Monday, December 31: Championship Event, Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Roster
As on June 18, 2018, the PFL roster included 72 fighters in six weight classes.
Broadcast distribution
On January 29, 2018, the League announced it had reached a multi-platform distribution deal for the inaugural 2018 season with NBC Sports Group and Facebook. Within the United States, NBC Sports Group established a live Thursday night PFL franchise, presenting seven regular-season live events in prime time exclusively on NBCSN beginning June 7, 2018, through the end of August 2018. Events televised by NBCSN also streamed on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app. All regular season events had encore telecasts on NBCSN later the same night. Outside the U.S., Facebook streamed up to six hours of live coverage for each event. Facebook also opened each event with a live 30-minute pre-fight show and closed each with a live 30-minute post-fight show. In the U.S., fans were able to watch the first three hours of undercard coverage of each event on Facebook prior to NBCSN’s presentation of the main bouts. In February 2019, news surfaced that PFL had reached a deal with ESPN and TSN for the second season's broadcasting rights in the United States and Canada, respectively.
Broadcast Team
PFL’s 2018 broadcast team for live events and pre- and post-event shows included Randy Couture, Bas Rutten, Yves Edwards, Caroline Pearce and Todd Harris. Todd Harris provided play-by-play while Randy Couture provided color commentary. Bas Rutten and Caroline Pearce conducted pre- and post-fight interviews and Yves Edwards offered video breakdowns and fight analysis.
PFL Standings - by weight class
In all weight categories, the top eight fighters in each weight class qualified for the 2018 league playoff. As of 2019, the top eight fighters in each men's weight class, and the top four fighters in the Women’s Lightweight division, advance to the playoffs.
