The Blueprint: PFL 2025 World Tournament

The Professional Fighters League will begin a new chapter on Thursday, as it launches the PFL 2025 World Tournament at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. Selecting 64 fighters in eight different weight classes, the PFL has listened to fans, competitors and everyone around the promotion about changing from a regular-season points format to a single-elimination tournament.

By introducing the tournament format, the PFL is turning the page just one year after acquiring Bellator MMA. In the sport of MMA, where most casual fans look at the fighting world as “UFC or bust,” the PFL was innovative from the start. The company brought the SmartCage to the sport, a new viewing perspective with the referee camera and a points system that afforded fighters a unique path to a championship. The tournament format, in theory, makes it easier for fans to follow every fighter, instead of trying to follow specific circumstances to determine how a season might unfold. The tournament lays out everything in a self-explanatory manner, which should also help grow each fighter’s individual brand.

The move is seen as crucial for the company, as there was plenty of criticism to go around in 2024. Due to the purchase of Bellator—and its history, talent and name recognition—and the blending of the two rosters, the PFL had plenty of tasks on its plate. The tournament figures to resolve some of those tasks. Many fighters from the previous organization were vocal, whether it be with disappointment over lack of activity or an eagerness to get involved with their new venture. No competitor wants to be shelved, and the tournament rosters the PFL has revealed underscore its focus and investment in moving forward, all while allowing veterans to move on to new opportunities.

Criticism comes with all decisions, largely because the PFL is not the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Fans need to be more open to new ideas, new promotions and supporting new avenues for fighters. The PFL listened to the criticism, understood it, addressed it and then moved towards changes that would make for a more fan- and fighter-friendly environment. There will be no time for rankings or politicking, and outside forces—i.e. season points—will no longer determine the fate of the 64 fighters set to compete in the rebranded PFL. The company has adopted a “One Shot” slogan. Fighters have one shot to win or go home, one shot to make an impression, one shot to capture the $500,000 grand prize and championship that awaits the last man or woman standing.

Fighters only get one shot! Watch the PFL World Tournament LIVE at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

It can be easy to nitpick a promotion about how it tried to change the game through innovation, but the powers that be in the PFL took a step back and put everything in the hands of the fighters on their roster. The tournament setup not only allows participants to succeed and grow but also to build their reputations and that of the company. If moving away from the regular-season format proved anything, it was that the PFL was tired of the narratives. It was no longer looking to be the No. 2 promotion or an organization to which aging veterans migrated. Those calling the shots for the PFL are in superstar-building mode now.

When the dust settles on the PFL 2025 World Tournament, the promotion will have crowned eight new champions, told the stories for many of the 64 participants and established a blueprint for the future. The stage has been set, the opportunities seem endless and the fighters look ready to take their respective careers to the next level with the PFL brand.