Professional Fighters League (PFL) is kicking off its new look “World Tournament” format later this year, and now we have some details of the opening round, which is set to kick off on Thursday April 3, 2025.
PFL revealed that the first four events of the opening round — which includes dates of April 11, April 18 and May 1 — will all take place on the back lot of Universal Studios Florida in Orlando, Florida airing live on ESPN and ESPN+ in the United States.
The single-elimination style format will have eight fighters in eight different weight classes all vying for the ultimate prize. The tournament will take place over the course of five months, dishing out a whopping $20 million in prize money along the way.
From the press release:
One Shot. The annual single-elimination tournament will feature brackets at Heavyweight, Light Heavyweight, Middleweight, Welterweight, Lightweight, Featherweight, Bantamweight, and Women’s Flyweight. The PFL World Tournament spans an action packed five months. 64 of the best fighters from around the world will compete to win MMA’s toughest test – win three straight times in five months to become PFL Tournament Champion. The First Round fights and the Semi-Final fights will be three, five-minute rounds while the Finals are five, five-minute rounds. All events and all fights now allow the use of elbows. The PFL World Tournament will payout over $20 million in total prize money, including a $500,000 bonus for every winner.
If you recall, earlier this year the promotion announced that it would be doing away with $1 million payouts for the tournament winner as part of it’s re-structuring. Furthermore, elbows are now allowed in all PFL fights.
With PFL doing away with Bellator MMA, and losing a couple of fighters along the way, the promotion will now have a deeper roster as it will now fully absorb all of the remaining fighters from the now-defunct company into the mix as one collective unit. Furthermore, details regarding participants and brackets will be announced in the coming days and weeks.
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