Fighters are starting to turn on PFL

Late last year the PFL announced they'd purchased Bellator and would take control of their roster of fighters. At the time there was a lot of hope and excitement for how the merger could go and how future match-ups could be made, but four months into the full-blown activation of PFL's plans, things are not going as perfectly as predicted.

The first hiccup came when several Bellator fighters were let go, we all knew it was going to happen but it was sad nonetheless. Then the PFL vs. Bellator card failed to deliver when Bellator fighters overwhelmingly defeated the PFL fighters. Now, as the promotion concludes the first half of the PFL Regular season, several fighters have spoken out about PFL issues from behind the scenes.

Former Bellator fighter Sabah Homasi revealed that PLF is not reimbursing him for medical issues stemming from his Bellator 299 fight. "Any fighters that got caught up in the [PFL] merger that have no tbeen reimbursed for surgeries and hospitalization from a fight or is it just me? U want 2 compete with the UFC but aren’t taking care of their fighters."

He doubled down on those claims in an interview with MMA Today saying he's out $30,000 in medical bills and has been waiting for nearly seven months. "I'm doing these media interviews, because maybe this will spark a little fire under their a*s, in order to speed things up and get this resolved," he said.

Gegard Mousasi says the PFL is not giving him a fight

But Homasi isn't the only one with issues against the PFL. Gegard Mousasi is also upset with the promotion claiming he's not been booked for a fight since the merger.

“The problem is we cannot get ahold of them,” Mousasi told MMA Fighting. “They refuse to answer us back. I’ve been training, I’ve been ready. But like I said, they don’t promote me, or people think I’m retired actually. People don’t even know. After my fight, Fabian Edwards fought twice, and since then, they don’t even talk to us. I know I have a contract with them. I know they are obligated to give me those fights. I’m just waiting and I don’t know. Just waiting, what can I do?"

Mousasi claims that Mike Kogan, a former Bellator employee seemed to think PFL was dragging their feet over the fight purse. “I talked to Mike Kogan, he suggested, ‘Well, you make too much money.’ He said, ‘I would get back to you after I talk to them because they cannot let you hang like this.’ I haven’t heard from him either.”

Bellator featherweight champion Cris "Cyborg" Justino is another fighter voicing her concerns over the PFL not giving her a fight. Justino has tweeted almost daily about wanting a fight but nothing has been announced.

Some fighters in the 2024 season have even voiced their concerns about the matchmaking in the second half of the PFL Regular Season. MMA manager, Daniel Rubenstein tweeted about the fight cards when they were announced, "The difference between PFL and other major sports leagues is that in the NFL or NBA you know the entire schedule before the season starts. PFL only does matchmaking before each fight so they can still stack the deck the way they want."

The PFL is still relatively new and let's hope this is just some growing pains. But there does appear to be some things going on behind the scenes which are not sitting well with the fighters.