MMA M&A- PIF-backed Professional Fighters League, a rival to the Ultimate Fighting Championship brand, is buying Bellator MMA from Paramount. The US-based PFL, which is backed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has acquired rival fighting franchise Bellator MMA from Paramount, PFL said in a statement yesterday that got plenty of ink in the global business press.

It’s a power move: PFL is challenging industry leader Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) as kingpin of the mixed martial arts arena. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

What they said: “PFL is now a global powerhouse in MMA,” said Donn Davis, PFL’s founder and chairman. “Our Bellator acquisition turbocharges PFL’s mission to innovate the sport and become the industry co-leader.”

The PIF’s buy-in made the transaction possible:PIF created sports investment company SRJ over the summer; SRJ then poured USD 100 mn into PFL in August, marking it the sport-focused fund’s first major investment. “There is no better global investor with industrial-strength capital [than PIF] to help us achieve our global vision,” Davis said in an interview last August.

The Kingdom is placing hefty bets on sports: We’ve been throwing ourselves into sports ranging from football, to golf, cage fighting, and cricket, with Saudi investors reportedly committing USD 6.3 bn the industry since 2021.

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