Jake Paul's MVP acquires PFL MMA

Jake Paul's events for boxing have been very successful from a financial point of view even though the quality of these fights and the cards themselves have been pretty strange, some would say that they appeared rigged.

Someone will boast that they have "better viewership than UFC" but this isn't necessarily true: They have a lot more visibility than UFC simply because they broadcast for "free" along with the world's most popular (by far) streaming service in Netflix. Paramount, where UFC broadcasts from, isn't even close in numbers of subscriptions to Netflix.

However, behind the boast is something that I actually would really like to see in the world of MMA, and that is some level of genuine competition for UFC, who has held the number 1 spot in MMA for a very long time and nobody else really even matters on that scene.

Honestly, MVP and PFL linking up is probably a non-issue as well in UFC's eyes, but at least it is something.

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Of course the media is running wild with this saying things like "Jake Paul puts Dana White on notice!" and other such stupid things when Dana is probably playing it cool while only being mildly annoyed by something like PFL. It is quite unlikely to have any real impact just like LIV Golf didn't really do much to the PGA.

It is interesting though because I felt like PFL (Pro Fighter's League btw) had some good idea that just fell apart due to lack of cohesive management, some really horrible rolling out of events, and of course, a lack of money.

Say what you will about Jake Paul, I personally think he is a bit of a tool, but the guy knows how to run a show and is an outstanding promoter.

This could be exactly what PFL needs in order to actually get some real contests out the door instead of just having a headline of Jake Paul vs. some old retired guy or an MMA fighter competing in a sport they have never competed in.

Then the very first real competitive fight that Jake puts out there he gets his jaw broken in 2 places and likely will not fight in boxing again.

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Jake will not be making all the calls though, he is partnered with Nakisa Bidarian - whoever the hell that is - as well as John Martin, who was and still is the CEO of PFL.

This sounds like a fine idea that I hope can do more than go nowhere. Jake is being his usual arrogant self when asked about it but to me it is clear that he is just winding people up and keeping the spotlight on this merger long enough for people to perhaps actually care when they do actually put a league together. I'm sure there is a lot more to it than simply wanting to do so.

It remains to be seen if this will stream on Netflix because not a lot of details have been released yet. We don't really even know what the roster is going to look like and most of the world's top MMA talent is locked into contracts with UFC anyway.

My guess is they are going to bank a lot on Cris Cyborg, who you may recall briefly got a huge push from UFC to be the next big thing in women's MMA only to get worked over by Amanda Nunes in her debut, and then immediately thrown out by Dana White and Co. The only problem there is the problem that MVP/PFL is likely to face in most of their proposed matchups and that is that Cyborg is 41 years old now.

PFL is currently in a contract with ESPN until the end of 2026 so they are holding off on the official branding and idea that the merger will eventually bring until 2027.

I just hope it isn't a complete failure like all of the other UFC potential competitors I have gotten excited about in the past.

Got any thoughts?