Could PFL steal some UFC heavyweights and take over the division?

[Motivated BJ Penn]

With Ngannou in need of a decent opponent for MMA, some UFC heavyweights could start leaving (or choosing not to resign) in search of that red panty night. If PFL focus on building their HW division on the back of Ngannou, maybe in a few years we could see the best heavyweights in the world fighting there.

I mean apart from Stipe and Jon who are on the way out, the rest of HWs are probably making peanuts, 1 fight with Ngannou could change their lives.

 

[Substance Abuse]

Heavyweight is mostly a barren wasteland bereft of talent. Who are they going to steal? There's even a lack of free agents they could sign who could make a difference.

I think PFL being a real, legitimate alternative is a stretch. I'm all for more MMA being available and fighters having options, but that company has so many issues from roster construction to production that it doesn't seem they'll ever really get it together. Buying Bellator and running it as a separate entity for two years seems like a bad idea. Maybe they'll bring Bader over or have Francis face Nemkov now that he's moving to Heavyweight. Who knows.

 

[JarlSkuld]

Once Jones and Stipe are gone, HW will be a barren wasteland. The UFC is going to have to rebuild that division from the ground up.

Jarl

 

[jk7707]

Definitely. They are funded by the Saudi government. Offer 50% more than the UFC and they will take over.

 

[amok attitude]

It all depends on how many fights left on some contracts.
Ex : i can see gane leaving for pfl, fernand has a good thing with them and gane is all business.
And those tuivasa, spivak, volkov, blaydes, rozenstruik, i dont see why they would stay.
But its all about the contracts. Thats the only thing that separates the ufc from the great beyond. I saw it multiple times in football (soccer), once you have got the cash, you change the landscape of a sport in no time.

 

[Klaavical]

What's PFL?

 

[rottenapple]

sounds like some fast food restaurant to me

 

[ThaiSexPills]

I wish they could, im getting sick of Dana and the UFC. Dana especially gets more arrogant and insufferable as time goes on.

 

[PooInYourCereal]

I do not believe ALL of the best heavyweights in the world are in the UFC. The process for fighters training outside of the West to make it to the UFC is very difficult. With PFL beginning to stake a claim on every continent, it is very possible they start discovering and helping build the next generation of Stipe's and Ngannou's. With proper worldwide scouting and investments in fighters gaining better training and healthcare, they could begin building new talent and names rather than just taking from the UFC talent pool.

 

[PooInYourCereal]

But I guess I went off on a tirade and didn't answer the question.

With Saudi funding, they could very easily start poaching UFC talent. With the help of the on-going anti-trust law suit against the UFC, they could very well position themselves to make some very big moves and gain some larger market share.

 

[humdizzle]

Money talks. I could definitely see that Saudi money stealing talent from the ufc when their contract is up.

Dana will probably make guys renew contracts before they get a title shot from now on though.

 

[sonhow]

Pfl going to sign Parker Porter and Chris Daukhaus from right under their noses

 

[GOATtalks]

Once Jones and Stipe are gone, HW will be a barren wasteland. The UFC is going to have to rebuild that division from the ground up.

Jarl

Bullshit. HW have Pavlovich, Aspinall, Gane, Blaydes, Volkov, Almeida, Tai and Lewis. It’s a f*chin good division

 

[Bruce Lee666]

UFC always will be the NBA of MMA if you're Champion of UFC you're the King.

 

[RonDante]

I wish they could, im getting sick of Dana and the UFC. Dana especially gets more arrogant and insufferable as time goes on.

You’d prefer a saudi backed organisation to just buy up all the good fighters like they do in football?

 

[Thesnake101]

Once Jones and Stipe are gone, HW will be a barren wasteland. The UFC is going to have to rebuild that division from the ground up.

Jarl

Right, once the guys that have fought once in like 4 years are gone the HW division will be in shambles.

 

[Thepaintbucket]

No point. How much legitimacy can you leech off the UFC heavyweight division anyway? They are better off building a better division and with minimal drug testing

 

[moreorless87]

The main thing they should do IMHO is look to HW kickboxing, Rico has shown interest in MMA for awhile even having a match and I'm guessing a few others have probably already done some training.

Francis/Rico could play more on the crossover as well, Ngannou facing the best in the world in each area.

 

[Bruce Lee666]

You’d prefer a saudi backed organisation to just buy up all the good fighters like they do in football?

Dream fights would be rare if PFL buy Elite Fighters of UFC we already lost Ngannou x Jones.

 

[MMAProfessional]

It all depends on how many fights left on some contracts.
Ex : i can see gane leaving for pfl, fernand has a good thing with them and gane is all business.
And those tuivasa, spivak, volkov, blaydes, rozenstruik, i dont see why they would stay.
But its all about the contracts. Thats the only thing that separates the ufc from the great beyond. I saw it multiple times in football (soccer), once you have got the cash, you change the landscape of a sport in no time.

Derrick Lewis somehow resigned with the UFC. No clue what the PFL is doing. My guess is the UFC offered him that long contract with a little less money per fight than what the guarantee would be to fight Francis would be so in the long run over the 6 fights or whatever he signed he'd make more money. Lewis to me was the only interesting HW they could have pouched. The top HW's probably are locked in for a while. Even if they absorb Bellator that won't give them much in matchmaking at HW.