3 reasons we shouldn't give up on PFL just yet

The Professional Fighters League is going through a bit of transition right now. The MMA promotion recently acquired Bellator MMA, a rival promotion, and has increased its roster, number of events, and its employees. During this transition period, there are bound to be some hiccups. I've been one of the first people to point them out. Several fighters have voiced concerns over contracts, payments, and medical reimbursements and we've seen production issues and even some questionable comments from its founder Donn Davis. After that long list of issues, it's easy for MMA fans to write PFL off entirely. But I don't think it's quite the right time to turn our backs on PFL and here are three reasons why.

1. The fighters

First and foremost, the fighters we all love so much will suffer if we stop tuning it. It's an incredibly difficult time to be a fighter right now because there's not a lot of high-level opportunities. Outside of the UFC and ONE Championship (maybe RIZIN too) there's just the PFL/Bellator. The fighters want to fight and we need to support whatever avenues they can do that. It doesn't mean we should blindly support everything, we can still speak out about changes we want to see but if you aren't tuning in each event, your opinion might not be all that valid.

2. The people behind the scenes

There are hundreds of unnamed and unseen people working incredibly hard to produce these events. I know firsthand how much they love what they do and how hard they work. Last season I had the pleasure of attending almost every single PFL event in the United States. These people work through the night in order to put on a show for the fans. Everyone is still learning and we need to give them a break (myself included). I promise you, they are doing and their absolute best to give you the best. Mistakes happen, AND they'll learn from them. We just need to give them time.

3. We need more MMA

Like I said earlier, there's only so much high-level MMA out there right now. We need to keep competition alive because that's the only way the sport will progress. PFL does some things the UFC doesn't - they have more lively and unique walkouts, they have the season format and, for the most part, they offer an affordable alternative for in-person person and online viewing. It's up to you to take advantage of what they offer.

Overall, we need to give PFL a little bit more time to get themselves together. Remember how wonky the first few years of the UFC was? PFL has a ton of room to grow ... let's water them and see it bloom.