PFL co-owner Donn Davis claims the fighters airing grievances about their treatment in the wake of the Bellator acquisition do not represent the majority.
After PFL acquired the Bellator brand in December, a steady stream of complaints from some of its fighters became public. The most notable and vocal is former Bellator champion Gegard Mousasi, who said the PFL brass have cut communication with his team under what he believes is the intention to not honor the terms of his Bellator contract.
Former multi-time Bellator titleholder Douglas Lima has offered similar frustrations, and current Bellator women’s featherweight champ Cris Cyborg has been consistently pushing to cage back in the cage as soon as possible against Larissa Pacheco, the two-time PFL women’s featherweight season winner, who has also spoke out on social media.
Davis said he understood when PFL overtook Bellator’s operations there would be some unforeseen issues, though he “expected more hiccups” in the process. He made it clear he’s pleased with where things stand overall with both PFL and Bellator, and added he is actively working to resolve any outstanding issues with athletes.
“Occasionally we’ll have a fighter grumble,” Davis said on the “Weighing In” podcast with John McCarthy and Josh Thomson. “It’s one of 205 (fighters we acquired from Bellator). You expect five to 10 percent issues on any deal. You can’t be perfect. You can be 90 to 95 percent. We’ve had a handful of people say, ‘Oh, I wish it went this way, I wish it went that way.’ I’m delighted. I’m very, very proud of how we treated our fighters. How we treat our employees. Most of all, the product. We just completed our second (Bellator show) in Paris, which was awesome. We didn’t sit on this for six months. We didn’t take a year off. We didn’t lay off 100 fighters. All the stuff that always happens in all acquisitions. So I just could not be more proud.
“I’ll say two things: One, what I’m super proud of is the market, and anyone you talk to – fighters, business partners, media, mangers – we’re direct, fair and reasonable. 100 percent. That’s my 35 years in business. That’s the culture we’ve built here. So I will say, without commenting out of respect on individual negotiations and specifics situations – we’re direct, fair and reasonable with everybody that we deal with. Will everybody’s contract be honored? Of course. Do some people have different ideas of what works and what doesn’t work? Sure. But we’re fair and reasonable with everybody. Will all 205 fighters (from Bellator) have everything fall the way they want? No.”
In addition to the complaints around activity, Bellator veteran in Sabah Homasi claims he has unpaid medical bills stemming from treatments for an injury sustained in a Bellator fight. It’s typically the onus of the promoter to reimburse fighters under those circumstances. Homasi said he’s owed money, with UFC lightweight contender Dustin Poirier spotlighting his issue.
Davis said those situations boil down to the timing of the Bellator deal. He said it’s the responsibility of previous ownership to pay those bills, and his lawyers are currently working to ensure everything is buttoned up.
“That was Paramount not paying,” Davis said. “We worked to get him paid. All happened before we bought it. We’re trying to stay low-key because that’s who we are. Paramount didn’t pay. We’re working to get somebody who owes him to pay him. A lot of these fighters and managers don’t even understand what they don’t understand. Those aren’t our bills. Those are the old company’s bills.”
Regardless of public skepticism seemingly growing about Bellator’s operations behind the scenes, Davis is bullish on the prosperous future of the brand, and reminded that the fallout of the deal is still fresh as he navigates the path forward.
“The acquisition of Bellator did not close until December,” Davis said. “We had a reimagined product with a full schedule and fighters with two fights for the year by February. That’s unheard of. I’ve done dozens of acquisitions that were either sold or bought, and I’ve never seen it. I’m super proud of the PFL team. We’re a small company. We have 62 total employees and this year we’ll do 30 events on four continents, having acquired a company with 205 fighters, and we’re getting everybody two fights on highly produced, premium stuff on four continents.
“I’m not blowing smoke with you guys: I am shocked. Not surprised. Shocked is after surprised, that we were able to give 96, 97, 98 percent of fighters two fights this year, given we closed this deal in December.”
