Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian are once again at the forefront of a major shift in the combat sports landscape.
The two industry partners, who co-founded Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) in 2021 and entered the MMA space in 2026 with Netflix’s record-breaking Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano fight, are principal actors in a merger between MVP and the promotion many regard to be MMA’s No. 2, the Professional Fighters League (PFL). Both entities announced the news Thursday morning.
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Under the terms of the merger, the PFL brand will eventually become MVP MMA after a brand migration that is expected to take place over the coming months.
The new joint company is set to be led by Paul and Bidarian, with current PFL CEO John Martin staying on as MVP MMA’s new CEO and a board member. Bidarian is expected to continue overseeing MVP’s boxing business, which currently boasts the most decorated collection of women’s talent in boxing and a broadcast deal with ESPN. The merged company will be financially backed by 885 Capital and Knighthead Capital Management.
Said Bidarian in a statement Thursday morning:
Our goals at MVP have always been bigger than just building a boxing promotion. It has been to build the future of combat sports with a true fighter-first approach. In less than five years, MVP has become one of the most influential and culturally relevant brands in the industry, producing some of the biggest events in combat sports history, elevating women’s boxing to unprecedented heights, and bringing millions of new fans into the fight game.
The success of MVP MMA’s first event confirmed our belief that there is demand for a modern, fighter-first approach to MMA. This merger accelerates our MMA ambitions while strengthening our ability to continue investing in boxing and MVPW.
Now the real fun begins. In the words of the great DMX – Let’s Get It On
In a joint press release, the new merged company added that it “intends to invest aggressively in both boxing and MMA,” with 885 Capital and Knighthead Capital Management “committing new capital and ensuring the combined company launches with the strongest balance sheet in its history.”
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Paul and Bidarian have proven to be impressive disruptors to the combat sports space over MVP’s first half-decade of existence. The duo have hosted numerous big events with marquee broadcast partners like Netflix, including several of Paul’s own fights against the likes of Mike Tyson and Anthony Joshua, as well as the Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano trilogy.
Paul and Bidarian shocked many earlier this year when they unveiled their first foray into MMA with the long-awaited, never-expected comeback fight of Rousey, a UFC Hall of Famer and pioneer for women’s MMA. Rousey and fellow trailblazer Gina Carano headlined a May 16 card that doubled as Netflix’s first-ever MMA event. The show featured several notable ex-UFC stars — Nate Diaz, Francis Ngannou, Mike Perry — and proved to be a breakthrough ratings success, peaking at 17 million live global viewers and shattering the previous U.S. viewership record for an MMA event.
Following the success of Rousey vs. Carano, Paul and Bidarian vowed the event would only be the beginning of their efforts to create a worthy challenger to the UFC’s dominance over the MMA market.
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The PFL itself is no stranger to mergers. The promotion, born from the ashes of World Series of Fighting in 2017, acquired Bellator MMA in late 2023 in a move that appeared to instantly position it as the main U.S. alternative to the UFC’s market stranglehold.
PFL currently holds a domestic broadcast rights deal with ESPN that is set to expire at the end of 2026. Fighters under contract with the promotion include champions Cris Cyborg, Usman Nurmagomedov, Johnny Eblen and Vadim Nemkov, along with popular contenders Dakota Ditcheva, Paul Hughes and AJ McKee.
More on this story coming shortly …
