Struggling PFL nixes million dollar tournaments, cuts final paycheck in half

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The Professional Fighter’s League (PFL) has worked hard to separate itself from the UFC. The promotion focuses heavily on global expansion and various regional subsections, has trademarked various tech and terms like the SmartCage, and is quite proud of its yearly tournament structure.

It’s hard to argue that PFL has achieved anything particularly iconic yet, but if the promotion has managed the feat, it’s surely in the tournament wins. It’s really cool to see an MMA fighter — sometimes a relatively unknown one at that — make it through the tournament successfully a lift an oversized $1 million check over his/her head after all the trials and tribulations. Such payouts are rare in in MMA, and a handful of tournament champions picking up a seven-figure win each year is undoubtedly a big part of PFL’s appeal. An athlete like Brendan Loughnane can get snubbed on Contender’s Series then join PFL and walk away a millionaire in a year. That’s pretty cool!

No longer.

Italian MMA reporter Al Zullino offered up some insight on the new PFL contracts leading into the 2025 year. Per his report, there have been several notable changes, but the most important is that the victory in the finals match up will now award the new PFL tournament champion $500k rather than $1 million.

Zullino speculates that the promotion’s tournaments will largely feature prospects and lesser known fighters, saving room for the bigger payouts of established stars and former Bellator champions. In a vacuum, that would make sense, but it’s hard to see how PFL public relations is going to spin this into a positive.

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