Rumors are swirling of PFL rebranding yet again. This time, pundits are talking about the promotion rebranding to Bellator, which, in my opinion, would be a major disaster.
While UFC suffers from a waning product and plentiful court cases, its competitors are committing habitual suicide. The last thing PFL needs is a rebrand—it needs streamlining.
Bring PFL fights under one umbrella
PFL’s tournament-style format already left a lot to be desired, especially after they absorbed Bellator. Who are the real promotional champions when one event is a PFL tournament final, and the next is a Bellator championship? It’s a half-measure, and one that diluted the PFL product and undermined their championship talent.
Their talent-funnel products are great to watch, too, but suffer from poor branding. How can fans keep track of who’s worth watching when the fights are spread across the Challenger Series, Road to Dubai, Africa, and MENA products?
Bring the fights back under one roof, or at least separate the primary PFL product from the talent-funnel product, as UFC and Dana White’s Contender Series do. Just have PFL and PFL Challenger Series—remove the fluff!
Bring back the spectacle of MMA
You can’t mention PFL without bringing up UFC. Despite being the world leader in MMA, UFC lacks some major pizazz. Casual fans don’t know what they’re missing, with bland fighter walkouts and practically no personality injected into the product.
The only reason UFC does so well is that it’s the burger-and-chips of the MMA world; fans know what they’re getting every time. Can you predict the pace and product of an average PFL card?
Old-school Pride Fighting and contemporary RIZIN do spectacle extremely well, and while PFL has made more effort to give its events personality, it’s at the expense of pacing and consistency.
Start treating fighters like characters in a fighting game again. Fans want something frenetic and sparkly, not a washed-out, corporate fighting event, à la UFC. While UFC is burger-and-chips, PFL could be something a little more upmarket, but equally as consistent.
Dare to be different
It could be as simple as using a ring instead of a cage. PFL hardly differentiates itself from the UFC, which means fans are being served the same meal twice when it should be two different flavors of Fight Nights.
Sure, the Smartcage gimmick is something, but wouldn’t you much rather see MMA in a ring where they can’t stall against a cage? Or world-level MMA where fighters can knee downed opponents, or use soccer kicks?
It’s obviously a pipe dream: Rules and regulations are hard to change, but the sport has come a long way, and incremental changes are being made, such as 12-6 elbows being legal these days.
PFL doesn’t need a sweeping rebrand to gain relevance; it needs to improve its product, from quality to a comprehensive perspective. It’s difficult to understand and follow, and it doesn’t distinguish itself from other major competitors.
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