Media Donn Davis says "5 bad things" happened to PFL in 2024

[svmr_db]

1 - Numerous potential new investors wasted thousands of hours of our time, and time is so precious

2 - Major new advertiser agreed to deal, was in final contract, and then new management came in and
stopped deal

3 - Some Bellator star fighters complained on social media about not fighting, making PFL look like not meet our contracts

4 - We are growing so fast with our new international leagues that costs in some regional areas are way too high

5 - Major new initiative and expansion is delayed one full year by one of our partners, through no fault of PFL.

Like all entrepreneurial companies, PFL battled navigated, and solved ... PFL enters 2025 in our best
position ever.

Do NOT let others foil you, keep you down, stop you

To ALL entrepreneurs - you survived - declare victory!

 

[David Street]

"If you want to build, make money, and have an impact, you have to focus on global growth. So that's where I spend all my time." - Donn Davis


Dude is growing too fast and not developing what he has into something great.

Private Equity Sports Market: Insights on the Current Ecosystem

A look at the 6 key players, a market map, and insights from an experienced sports investor/founder.

www.petcashpost.com

 

[podsox]

Khabib talking shit about Ireland prior to the usman/hughes fight and donn the con has done nothing to promote it. It’s amazing how bad he is at this

 

[Mick Dojang]

What did Donn say when all these willing investors asked what fights he'd put on to steal viewers from UFC?

Bar Francis I don't see what they have in terms of big crowd draws

 

[Blastbeat]

Davis would have to actually watch MMA in order to understand why PFL isn't taking off like people thought

 

[Bubzeh]

LinkedIn lol. Starting to feel sorry for Donn bless him. Pretty clear that the money men have just thrown this non-mma guy at the front and left him to crumble.

 

[Ara tech]

If many Bellator fighters are forced to be inactive, it's Bellator's fault not PFL.
At least make them fight in PFL, or release them instead of holding them.

The only thing Bellator can be is a sunken boat.

But what's the best thing that happened to PFL in 2024 ?
#1 Shamil Musaev
#2 Shamil Musaev
#3 Shamil Musaev

This is the first time that the P4P of any weightclass worldwide is not a UFC fighter. I hope that PFL will take over the game with others fighters like that. They should take care of Baki too, he was potential to be great.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

If many Bellator fighters are forced to be inactive, it's Bellator's fault not PFL.
At least make them fight in PFL, or release them instead of holding them.

The only thing Bellator can be is a sunken boat.

But what's the best thing that happened to PFL in 2024 ?
#1 Shamil Musaev
#2 Shamil Musaev
#3 Shamil Musaev

This is the first time that the P4P of any weightclass worldwide is not a UFC fighter. I hope that PFL will take over the game with others fighters like that. They should take care of Baki too, he was potential to be great.

PFL own Bellator so if it's Bellator's fault it's automatically PFL's fault.

Also you're forgetting Fedor.

 

[twiztor]

1 - Numerous potential new investors wasted thousands of hours of our time, and time is so precious

2 - Major new advertiser agreed to deal, was in final contract, and then new management came in and
stopped deal

3 - Some Bellator star fighters complained on social media about not fighting, making PFL look like not meet our contracts

4 - We are growing so fast with our new international leagues that costs in some regional areas are way too high

5 - Major new initiative and expansion is delayed one full year by one of our partners, through no fault of PFL.

Like all entrepreneurial companies, PFL battled navigated, and solved ... PFL enters 2025 in our best
position ever.

Do NOT let others foil you, keep you down, stop you

To ALL entrepreneurs - you survived - declare victory!

1. Blame Investors
2. Blame Advertisers
3. Blame Fighters
4. Blame Money (?)
5. Blame Partners

 

[skylolow]

A lot of kind of complaining going on here. Probably should've not answered that question.

Deals fall through, nothing new in business.
Investors wasting your time???? If they are looking to invest they will have questions and concerns that need to be addressed. This is part of business if your looking for investors. Not everyone you approach or approaches you is going to invest.

His Fighter comment he should've said, maybe there was misunderstanding going on and we need to be better at keeping fighters up to date and avoid public spats.

 

[usernamee]

First two are on them for not vetting it properly and probably a case of them being desperate so anyone raising their hand will get their attention.

 

[TheBrownRanger]

PFL needs to:

- Move to matchmaking and away from the season format. If they HAVE to do a tournament, do an annual Grand Prix for one division like Bellator did.

- Let fighters wear what they want. Get rid of uniforms. Don’t try to be the UFC. You’re not the “co-leader” of MMA. You’re #2 and that’s okay.

- Merge the leagues. It is currently spread way too thin to keep interest with MMA fans.

- Find a new mouthpiece that is actually knowledgeable about MMA (Sonnen, Rutten, etc). Cool points for the hardcores and charismatic enough to persuade newer audiences.

- I might get crap for this one but introduce unique weight classes (Super-Heavyweight, Cruiserweight, Openweight, or Super Lightweight). They definitely have the talent to pull this off.

PFL is allowing elbows so they seem to be listening somewhat and that’s progress.

 

[Terry_Dak_Tull]

- I might get crap for this one but introduce unique weight classes (Super-Heavyweight, Cruiserweight, Openweight, or Super Lightweight). They definitely have the talent to pull this off.

I've said previously(maybe not here), that a company needs to go this route. I'd focus on Super Middleweight and under however. A promoter could then promote a fighter as the best in the world at whatever division. Of course you'd had people saying someone at a similar weight in the UFC would be better, but there's no direct comparison any longer.

It's how you'd create distance. It's part of a much larger idea where you go about your own business and keep any mention of the UFC at a minimum.

 

[ferrisjso]

Lies.

I don't think you can count how many bad things happened to the PFL in 2024.

Went from Bellator that had ownership which didn't care about MMA and only wanted to make money to operators who don't care about MMA and only want to make money.

 

[David Street]

Donn Davis: PFL to Allow Elbows for All Fights in 2025

It appears that Professional Fighters League will have a significant revision to its rule set for 2025.

www.sherdog.com

A good start for 2025:

Donn Davis: PFL to Allow Elbows for All Fights in 2025​

 

[TheBrownRanger]

I've said previously(maybe not here), that a company needs to go this route. I'd focus on Super Middleweight and under however. A promoter could then promote a fighter as the best in the world at whatever division. Of course you'd had people saying someone at a similar weight in the UFC would be better, but there's no direct comparison any longer.

It's how you'd create distance. It's part of a much larger idea where you go about your own business and keep any mention of the UFC at a minimum.

I don't know if going "full boxing" on weight classes would be enough to gain any traction. 165 lbs would have enough talent to sustain itself and remain interesting without taking too much talent from LW/WW. Cruiserweight (225) or Super MW (195) could be a fun experiment. Anything else besides that? Meh. I don't really care to see male Strawweight or Atomweight.

I like Super-Heavyweight or Openweight for the freakshow element of it. Something that none of the competitors do at all (even RIZIN in its current state). It would be enough to set itself apart from them. Ngannou, Big Tim, Nemkov, Delija, Corey, Goltsov, Bader, Vassell, Davis, Romero, Isaev, Ivanov, Cappelozza, James, Moldavsky, Ferreira, etc. They ABSOLUTELY got the fighters to do it. A 265+ weight class would probably require more freaky signings tbh.

Think about Bellator's two highest watched shows (Bellator 138 & Bellator 149). What did they both have in common? They had both had Kimbo Slice and Ken Shamrock in the headline. Whether we want to admit it or not, we NEED more freaky shit in MMA.

 

[BEATDOWNS]

Elbows now legal in all bouts

 

[SalvadorAllende]

Bar Francis I don't see what they have in terms of big crowd draws

Francis conned PFL.

Went in there talking about how he was going to make things better for fighters.... took a shit ton of money, basically bankrupted the company and now the rest if the fighters can go fuck themselves because there are not money for them lol.

 

[STAY GOLD]

- I might get crap for this one but introduce unique weight classes (Super-Heavyweight, Cruiserweight, Openweight, or Super Lightweight). They definitely have the talent to pull this off.

BRAVE CF has more weight classes. Doesn't really make much of a difference to be honest.

 

[TorontoTO]

BRAVE CF has more weight classes. Doesn't really make much of a difference to be honest.

Brave CF is just a vanity project for the Bahraini prince to have KHK guys get bouts until they sign with the UFC. I don't think they are actually a serious promotion looking to be anything