PFL Merges With MVP Under Jake Paul Banner

The Professional Fighters League and Most Valuable Promotions completed their merger Thursday, creating a unified combat sports entity that will operate under the MVP name.

PFL and MVP announced the deal in a joint statement, with the combined organization bringing together boxing, MMA, live events, and global distribution under one roof. MMA Fighting first reported the official confirmation, noting that Front Row Brian had revealed merger discussions on social media earlier this month.

Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian Lead New Entity

The merged company will be led by MVP co-founders Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian alongside CEO John Martin. Bidarian said the move accelerates MVP's MMA timeline while preserving its boxing foundations. "This merger accelerates our MMA ambitions while strengthening our ability to continue investing in boxing and MVPW," he said in the release. "By combining MVP's audience-building engine, storytelling capabilities, and brand with PFL's roster, infrastructure, and international footprint, we are creating a new global home for combat sports."

Paul pitched the deal as a decade-long leap for the fighter-first model MVP launched five years ago. He promised current PFL and MVP fighters a larger platform and told athletes in other promotions that MVP is "open for business when you are contractually free." Paul also confirmed plans to make his MVP MMA debut.

Martin emphasized PFL's global reach — 34 broadcast partners across more than 170 countries — as the infrastructure piece of the merger. MVP and MVPW will remain the boxing arms of the company, while PFL's roster and league operations form the MMA foundation. Friday's PFL event headlined by Usman Nurmagomedov and Archie Colgan will still run under the PFL banner, with the merger expected to close fully later this year. The new organization has five combined boxing and MMA events scheduled for August.

Reported via:

• MMA Fighting — MVP, PFL officially merge to create new global combat sports platform