Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian's Most Valuable Promotions is set to officially merge with the PFL, bringing the PFL era to a close. The combined entity will operate under the new brand MVP MMA beginning in 2027, representing a major shake-up in the MMA landscape.
Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian's Most Valuable Promotions is set to merge with the Professional Fighters League, with the combined organization rebranding as MVP MMA when it launches in 2027, marking a significant restructuring of one of the sport's major promotional entities.
The move brings the PFL era to a formal close. Since its rebranding from the World Series of Fighting in 2018, the PFL carved out a distinct identity in the MMA landscape through its season-based format and million-dollar tournament prizes. The league further raised its profile in recent years through a series of high-profile signings and its acquisition of Bellator MMA in 2023.
Most Valuable Promotions, co-founded by Paul and Bidarian, entered the combat sports space as a boxing-focused venture before expanding its footprint. The merger represents the full integration of that operation into a unified MMA promotion under a new identity.
Why it matters
- The PFL brand, active in its current form since 2018, will cease to exist as a standalone entity once MVP MMA launches.
- The rebrand signals a strategic shift in how the organization plans to position itself against the UFC and other promoters heading into 2027.
- Jake Paul's involvement brings mainstream visibility and a younger audience demographic to the promotion's future identity.
- The timeline gives the new organization roughly a year to consolidate rosters, contracts, and operational infrastructure before the MVP MMA brand goes live.
The announcement represents one of the more consequential organizational moves in MMA outside of the UFC in recent memory, and the sport will be watching closely to see how MVP MMA takes shape ahead of its 2027 debut.
