A few months after acquiring Bellator MMA in a landmark deal, Professional Fighters League (PFL) has announced its plan for the promotion once owned by Paramount Global and steered by long-time mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter, Scott Coker.
Via a press release, the promotion revealed the launch of Bellator Champions Series, which is set to kick off with Bellator 302 on March 22, 2024, and will be headlined by Light Heavyweight title fight as Corey Anderson and Karl Moore square off for the vacant strap.
Bellator Champions Series will comprise eight star-studded global events across Europe and the United States of America, featuring at least one title fight per event. Furthermore, all events will now stream on DAZN.
"After the landmark acquisition of Bellator, the Professional Fighters League is excited to officially announce a new era of MMA with the launch of the ‘Bellator Champions Series’ global franchise,” said PFL CEO Peter Murray. “The Bellator Champions Series” will feature reigning Bellator Champion fighters defending their titles against the best fighters in the world from the start studded Bellator roster. Fans will have access to the best competition and the most innovate formats in MMA distributed by leaders in sport including DAZN.”
PFL will still operate as a separate entity with its ever-popular season format. That said, the best from PFL and Bellator will still have the opportunity to test themselves against each other in a “Champion vs. Champion” mega event, with the first such card taking place on Feb. 24, 2024, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Bellator 302 will be co-headlined by a women's Featherweight rematch between Leah McCourt vs. Sinead Kavanagh. The two talented ladies initially faced off at Bellator 275 in Feb. 2022, resulting in a unanimous decision win for Kavanagh. McCourt has gone 2-1 since that defeat and was hoping to secure a title fight against Cris Cyborg following her technical knockout win over Sara McMann at Bellator 300, but the acquisition changed all those plans.
Meanwhile, Bellator’s 145-pound champion, Cris Cyborg, still can’t get a fight.
For all the latest PFL and Bellator MMA news and notes click here and here.
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