Meknes – Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions and the Professional Fighters League officially joined forces on Thursday, announcing a merger that consolidates boxing and MMA.
The partnership establishes a single global platform aimed at reshaping the landscape of professional fighting.
“Together under the MVP banner, we’re bringing world-class boxing, MMA, premium live events, athlete development, and global content distribution into one fighter-first organization, ” PFL posted on social media.
Under the terms of the deal, both organizations will operate under the MVP banner. The expansion into mixed martial arts comes fast for Jake Paul’s brand, which staged its inaugural MMA event only a few months ago.
‘Disrupt a broken model’
The merger builds directly on Most Valuable Promotions’ original vision of reshaping how combat sports handle athlete compensation and promotion.
“We started MVP to disrupt a broken model. We wanted to give fighters fair pay and a bigger, modernized stage to become global superstars,” Jake Paul said in a release.
“Joining forces with PFL accelerates that vision by a decade. We now have a scaled platform to give today’s fans what they want: elite talent mixed with culture, lifestyle, and massive social velocity.”
Launched in 2018 as a direct challenge to the UFC, the Professional Fighters League (PFL) introduced a novel concept to mixed martial arts by using a traditional sports-season format.
Featuring a regular season, playoffs, and championship bouts with $1 million prizes for division winners, the promotion positioned itself as a structured alternative to standard fight matchmaking.
The merged company will be led by PFL CEO John Martin, a seasoned media executive who previously served as chairman and CEO of Turner networks, overseeing properties like TNT, TBS, CNN, and Turner Sports.
Meanwhile, Jake Paul and MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian will maintain active leadership roles as co-founders and board members in the unified venture.
“We’re not just combining companies, we’re bringing an entire combat sports community together and creating a more powerful platform to accelerate growth,” Martin said.
“One company, one global stage, millions of fans and we’re only just getting started.”
The combined entity brings together a roster of roughly 400 athletes, with a core focus on expanding its footprint across both boxing and MMA.
The new platform is also set to maintain existing global media and broadcast partnerships with major networks, including Netflix, ESPN, and Sky Sports.
