How would you improve PFL next season?

[TheBrownRanger]

Just as the title says. The championship fights are set so we pretty much know what's going to happen the rest of the year. What changes you bring to PFL? I'd say:

- Go after big names - The PFL needs to try their hand at securing far bigger names if they want to be successful. The biggest names this season were Shields, Brooks, and Rashid Magomedov at a very distant third. Definitely won't cut it for ratings. Go after guys like Vitor Belfort and Frank Mir for one-offs, or at least attempt to outbid the UFC for top 10 well-known talents like Mousasi and Alvarez.

Put homegrown talent like Cooper, Harrison, and Palmer on those undercards.

However, in order to bring these kinds of guys in, they'll definitely have to pay those 1M dollar prizes to the tournament winners in order to be viewed as a reputable organization.

- Get rid of the boring, mediocre fighters - WSOF attracted a ton of boring fighters due to Bellator/ONE not willing to take them and in-part due to them being sort of a high-level feeder to the UFC. Will Brooks, Brandon Halsey, and Jake Shields don't really fit in this category as they have name value and have been champions in other major orgs.

If they got rid of boring prospect killers like Santos, Rosholt, and Doomsday, I wouldn't miss them too much. They were incredibly average show-killers in the UFC and they're average show-killers now.

- Co-Promote - WSOF/PFL has had no problem letting fighters fight in other orgs temporarily in the past. Why not do it officially? Send one or two fighters with fan-friendly styles to RIZIN NYE and get some buzz about their own NYE event.

Bringing in other fighters from RIZIN and Bellator to fight in the tournaments would also help get some eyes on the product. RIZIN and Bellator, to my knowledge are the most co-promotion friendly major orgs. Honestly, why the hell not?

 

[2004 account]

I agree that they need to go after big names because as of now pfl feels kinda gimmicky in the same way that IFL felt, but that's just my opinion though.



Big names = big event feel

 

[Kinger85]

bigger names is the obvious answer, but that is also easier said than done.

 

[ThunderL1ps]

Create a division nobody else has.

 

[MMALOPEZ]

Bellator doesn’t gain anything co promoting with PFL.


2 Many Ali abdel aziz fighters....

Semis 3 rounds not that shit of 2 and the winner of the first round advancing was horrible...

Please don’t bring back shields, Paul Bradley type fighters

 

[podsox]

Less wrestlers with no ground game but holding on. Too much stalling. Eliminate the ufc washouts with prospects

 

[Thesnake101]

Less point fighters and journeymen.

Unless the journeymen just bleed.

 

[strongstylekarate]

I agree with you TS, they really need to go after the big names, and not let the gatekeepers destroy the prospects.

And so many boring out there that needs to get rid off, but my guess co-promote would be the best for this promotion.

It would be awesome for PFL to co-promote or merge with promotions like ONE, KSW and ACB to improve the roster lineups and bring variety to their fights.

 

[strongstylekarate]

Changing the vibe and the landscape would be great for PFL, because watching it is like watching a college events which really sucked.

They should apply the PRIDE KSW treatment.

The PFL name, for goodness sake I hope they change it into name and not acronym like the UFC.

 

[Danespina]

I felt like fans wanted to dissect the rankings, and they wanted those dramatic moments where a fighter needed to end a bout by the 2nd round or they'd be eliminated.

Unfortunately because there were so few fighters and fights per division, how you won didn't really matter. Jared Rosholt, Josh Copeland, and Jake Shields all made the playoffs despite only winning 1 decision and getting destroyed in their other bout. It took away the importance of everything you'd watch.

Few fighters also meant immediate rematches were to be expected, as getting KO'd wouldn't eliminate you, but instead drop you to 7th or 8th place, hilariously setting you up with your attacker now sitting at 1st or 2nd.

It also meant that if someone in the top 8 got injured, then the #9-#10 guy brought in was probably someone who did absolutely terrible.

Anyway yeah, I didn't like only having 12 fighters per division.

 

[FKA]

Obviously make some moves in free agency,get rid of 2 round fights make them 3,get rid of Bas Rutten as commentator and interviewer the guy is corny and average at best.

Stick with Thursday nights instead of jumping around all the time it was confusing.

Screw seeding just do straight brackets where winners advance to face each other it will eliminate immediate rematches.

 

[Fluffernutter]

Hire Elon Musk to run the company.

Sign athletes with no martial arts backgrounds: NCAA football players that never were drafted for the NFL, retired hockey players, Crossfitters, etc.

Hire a broadcast team that consists of Bob Sapp, Bob Saget, and Bob Uecker.

 

[TCE]

Lots of 2 round draws, with the winner of the first round advancing.

I love the tournament feel (2 fights in one night), but they need another approach to who really advances in the event of a draw.

 

[RODNEY83]

Get on a better network for MMA like FS1 and FS2. No big names, keep finding fighters like Ray Cooper III, and Kevin Tiller, and Mo DeReese. Be a building block for fighters like Natan Shulte, and Chris Wade. Keep being the resurgent organization for fighters like Vinny Magalhaes and Louis Taylor and Steven Siler. Don't be the UFC retirement home like Bellator chose to do. Give women like Pam Sorenson and Sarah Patterson and Bobbi Jo Dalziel the big stage so we can see them fight. Don't have the quarterfinals and semifinals on the same night. Do video features on PFL Fighters showing their backgrounds, building their stories, get fans to have vested interest in them. Keep being the Professional Fighters League and don't become a copy of any other MMA organization.

 

[Matthew Fedler]

Going after bigger names goes without saying.

Minor change: make the quarterfinal bouts a single round instead of two, to do away with the draws and presumably boost the pace.

Major change: Make all regular season bouts a single round to increase action and the amount of times a fighter can compete during the season. Point system would change to: Draw = 1, Decision = 3, Finish = 5.

The entire tournament could be held in one night: 1 round for quarterfinal and semifinal fights, 3 rounds for the finals. But the current format (with the 1 round QF) is okay too.

Also, with all the trade talk recently, a formal deal where the tournament winners can be traded to the UFC in exchange for veteran fighters.

HW: Arlovski
LHW: OSP
MW: Hall
WW: Cerrone
LW: Barboza
FW: Swanson

Honestly I would love for the PFL to merge with the UFC and basically become the new format for TUF. They just need a few seasons to iron out the kinks.

 

[The ScorpioN]

Hire Elon Musk to run the company.

Sign athletes with no martial arts backgrounds: NCAA football players that never were drafted for the NFL, retired hockey players, Crossfitters, etc.

Hire a broadcast team that consists of Bob Sapp, Bob Saget, and Bob Uecker.

I would watch this.

 

[The ScorpioN]

Give women like Pam Sorenson and Sarah Patterson and Bobbi Jo Dalziel the big stage so we can see them fight.

Great ideas, except for this.

For lack of a better word, their skill is can level. If PFL wants to be taken seriously, avoid WMMA like the plague, especially at higher weight classes. All the top girls are taken, the rest are literal part time kickboxersizers.

 

[RODNEY83]

Great ideas, except for this.

For lack of a better word, their skill is can level. If PFL wants to be taken seriously, avoid WMMA like the plague, especially at higher weight classes. All the top girls are taken, the rest are literal part time kickboxersizers.

The Professional Fighters League is going to have a Women's Lightweight Regular season and Tournament in 2019. How are you not aware of this? Especially being on this site. Kayla Harrison is going to be the feature of that division.

 

[The ScorpioN]

The Professional Fighters League is going to have a Women's Lightweight Regular season and Tournament in 2019. How are you not aware of this? Especially being on this site. Kayla Harrison is going to be the feature of that division.

You're right, I completely forgot about Kayla.

Yeah she's gonna stomp those and be PFL's Ronda.

 

[CDF47]

Go after bigger names.

Co-promote and fighter exchange with Rizin and Bellator.

I agree with your post TS.