Exclusive: Donn Davis Breaks Down How PFL Plans to Expand and Evolve MMA in 2025

The PFL (Professional Fighters League) was created by Donn Davis in 2017 and launched in 2018. The mixed martial arts league follows a regular season format, playoffs, and a championship — similar to the major sports.

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Since its creation, the PFL has gone on to produce global fights, sign MMA legend Francis Ngannou, and purchase the Bellator brand. Davis sat down for an exclusive interview with Newsweek Sports to speak about the huge plans for the PFL in 2025, the return of Francis Ngannou, and how innovation will lead to the evolution of MMA.

Davis started with how the purchase of Bellator in 2023 has led the PFL to what it is now, and what are the bigger picture plans for the promotions as a whole in 2025, including how a complete roster is set to transform the company.

Here we are two years later following the purchase of Bellator, what has that purchase done for the PFL, and what are the plans for 2025?

“PFL was already the No. 2 company in MMA by revenue, by distribution, by audience. What the Bellator acquisition did for us was fighters. It was all about adding fighter talent. So right now out of the top 300 fighters in the world by fight matrix, UFC has 175. And PFL, the combined roster, has 100. So, there’s only 25 fighters in every other organization in the world in the top 300. So, it was very important for us to consolidate all the best fighters in the world who are not in the UFC. The is what the Bellator acquisition did for us.”

“What that sets up for 2025? Great news for fans. The fight products will be even more exciting. We’ve now had nine months to plan, how to deploy the fighters, and how to match fighters to the products. Remember we have two kinds of products. Champion series, which are one-off events, where you can matchmake. And the PFL season or tournament, where meritocracy wins and advance. Now we have this complete roster. Totally combined. Top fighters, where do they go? How do fans enjoy them? That is what 2025 is all about.”

Many fans were waiting patiently for the return of Francis Ngannou after his unceremonious exit from the UFC. Now that Ngannou came roaring back during the PFL Super Fights: Battle of the Giants – Ngannou vs. Ferreira event in October, what did his big win mean for MMA in general, and for the PFL.

What has Francis Ngannou’s return done for the PFL and MMA in general?

“For MMA in general, Francis is beloved. Francis’ story is universal. The one of escape from nothing, escape all odds, to start your life. This is like a real-world Rocky story time 100. We all can empathize with that story, and for him to go through the tragedies he has with his son. For him to break free from the UFC, only adds on to that mystery, only adds on to that journey. And none of us knew, maybe even Francis didn’t know. With a three-year layoff, what would it be like? He went up against the No. 5 ESPN heavyweight. He went against a 6-foot-8 knockout artist and he destroyed him in 90 seconds. So, for all of us in MMA it was ‘Wow! Francis Ngannou, he is the baddest man on the planet!’ So, anybody who doubted it, wasn’t sure, he still has it. He is the No. 1 man in the world. So, it was thrilling for MMA. For PFL, he’s here. He’s not anywhere else. He’s here. So, when people start to say ‘Hey, I got two great places to watch MMA. PFL and the other guys,’ that’s real. Whether it’s Francis Ngannou, whether it’s Dakota, the fastest rising women’s star in the world. Whether it’s Paul Hughes, cmon. Whether it’s Cédric Doumbé, this is a place where the PFL is empowering fighters and giving fans some really exciting fights.”

Following Ngannou’s win, UFC great and heavyweight champion Jon Jones reached out via social media. The same happened when Jones took down Stipe Miocic at UFC 310. With fans begging for the Ngannou vs. Jones bout, Davis speaks on what imaginary hurdles are present that are keeping this fight from occurring.

What are the biggest hurdles preventing Francis Ngannou vs Jon Jones from happening?

“As a guy who has done business deals for 35 years, there is no obstacle to any deal that people want to do. Any deal that people want to do will always get done. There is plenty of money here. There is plenty of opportunity here. There are no logistical barriers, there are no hurdles. When people want to do, it’s gonna happen. And there are a lot of reasons to do this one.”

PFL had some canceled fights, but that was due to a lot of reshuffling of the brand and clearing the way for more and bigger events in 2025. Davis revealed quite a lot about the PFL schedule for 2025, including the number of events, along with more on the PFL Africa division.

Is there going to be more of an increase and delivery on the championship series, the super fights, is there a chance that the regular season will be expanded in any way?

“We will not expand the league season. We’ve always said 10 events is like NFL weekends. It is so important, and every fight matters. Every fight is almost like an elimination fight. You’ll always see us make that product better. We’re currently are working on refinements to make that even more easy to follow. But 10 weeks, call it 10 events,10 tentpole events, will always be the season or tournament as we envision it, as we produce it. Overall, the company will have more events. Two years ago, we had 16 events in 2023. In 2024, we had 25 events his year. We did not get in two events. We just had too much going on. We’re a small company, growing too fast. We did not get in to two events. Our goal was 27, maybe 28, but we got 25 in. We grow over 50 percent year over year. Next year, in 2025, 34 events. We will be announcing a schedule. We’re not willing to tell everybody until things are locked down about that schedule. But we’re gonna grow again. So, from 2023 to 2025, PFL would have doubled our events on a global basis.”

Davis explains the sheer growth of the PFL schedule, which is set to include a staggering 34 fights in 2025. The company also recently announced the PFL Africa division, which is debuting in 2025, and is included in the 34 events counted for next year.

You recently announced the PFL Africa, and do a lot of those events in 2025 involve that division?

“Four of them. There will be four events for PFL Africa in 2025. It will follow the same format as PFL Europe and PFL Mid East. All local heroes, all primetime locally, all broadcast pan-regionally. So, it’s its own win and advance format. Four local events in Europe, and Mid East, and Africa. It will start probably in April, maybe in May, but we will have some more details on that. It’s all done. It’s all happening. PFL Africa 2025

Davis also spoke about what the PFL plans to do to evolve not only the organization but the entire sport as a whole in 2025 and beyond.

How is PFL going to evolve MMA?

“The tactics will change, because we will keep innovating and we will keep listening to fans and we will keep getting better. But the strategies will remain the same. We are fighter-driven, not promoter-driven. Very focused on putting on the best fights and very global. Those are the three tenets, those are the three strategies, and those are our values that won’t change. But how we do that? We gotta get smarter, we gotta get better, we gotta get more exciting. Every single year. And 2025, my friend, bigger than 2024. I don’t think since 2021 or 2021 we have seen as much exciting changes from the PFL as you’ll see in 2025.

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For the entire interview with PFL founder Donn Davis, watch the video above. And for more on the PFL and MMA, head to Newsweek Sports.