PFL’s original season-to-playoff format is officially no more.
The unique year-long format that PFL has used since it first launched in 2018 has been retired, as revealed by the promotion this week. Instead, simpler single-elimination tournaments will take place throughout the year as part of the brand’s flagship tour.
PFL plans to host eight-person brackets across eight different divisions this year, an increase from the six weight classes they showcased in past seasons.
Along with the return of women’s flyweight and men’s featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight, the promotion is also debuting a bantamweight class and will bring back middleweight for the first time since 2018.
PFL’s opening round cards will take place on April 3rd, 11th, 18th, and a fourth date that has yet to be determined. Semi-finals will go down on June 12th, 20th, and 27th, and the grand finals will be on August 1st, 15th and 21st.
For years, PFL attempted to emulate the schedule of other major American sports leagues in MMA by providing a regular season before a playoff portion of the year. Fighters would compete twice to earn points in their division’s standings, with the top four talents advancing into a single-elimination playoff bracket. This radical approach to MMA, while making PFL a one-of-a-kind brand in the market, ultimately has been put on the bench after six seasons.
It was previously reported last week by Uncrowned that changes to PFL’s schedule were on the way. Among those changes was the grand prize for a tournament becoming $500,000. This was different from previous years, where a champion would have their earnings in the year rounded up to $1 million total.
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