The Professional Fighters League announced Monday it is canceling its 2020 season because of the coronavirus pandemic, with plans to resume its format of regular season and playoffs in the spring of 2021. For this year, according to a prepared statement, the PFL will create “new original programming.” The announcement stated that PFL fighters will continue to be paid their monthly cash stipends throughout 2020.
“The PFL mission is to evolve and grow the sport of MMA, and we look forward to staging our unique sport-season format with regular season, playoff and championship events on ESPN platforms next year,” PFL CEO Peter Murray said in a statement. “PFL has always been focused on delivering the best made-for-TV MMA product and we will continue to deliver the most innovative fight experience going forward. Fans can also look forward to PFL elevating our roster with new championship caliber fighter signings such as Rory MacDonald.”
The PFL was rebranded from the World Series of Fighting in 2018 and for the last two years has operated in a season format. Fighters compete in a two-bout regular season starting in the fall, and single-elimination playoffs in the fall, culminating in a New Year’s Eve finale at which the champions in six weight classes are each awarded a $1 million prize.
Along with MacDonald, a new addition who formerly fought in the UFC and Bellator, the PFL roster includes two-time Olympic judo gold medalist Kayla Harrison, who won the women’s lightweight championship in 2019, and featherweight Lance Palmer, who won the championship in both 2018 and ’19.