MMA In Las Vegas Is More Than UFC; Professional Fighters League Completes Three-Show Stay In Vegas Friday
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By Cassandra Cousineau, LVSportsBiz.com MMA Writer
Friday night was a wrap on the Professional Fighters League’s Las Vegas residency.
The MMA fight organization staged three fight shows at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in April as part of its season format. The PFL heads to Atlanta next.
The PFL’s early evening event featured a 12-match card, primarily with welterweights and heavyweight champion Sadibou Sy (13-6-2) challenged by Jarrah Al Silawi (18-4-0). The season culminates with six champions who will each receive $1 million in prize money from the PFL.
A lot has changed on the MMA landscape between visits to Las Vegas for the PFL. The sport was one of a handful that grew in both fans and financial profits during one of the most challenging periods in global history.
Professional Fighters League is currently second only to Las Vegas-based Ultimate Fighting Championship, airing in 140 countries compared to the UFC’s 160.
It has secured broadcast partners ESPN in the U.S., DirecTV in Latin America, and Channel 4 in the U.K. Last year, an average of 212,000 viewers tuned into PFL live events across ESPN and ESPN2, according to Nielsen data.
New investors, including former MLB player Alex Rodriguez, have come on board along with Jake Paul. The influencer-turned-boxer signed a multiyear contract which reportedly includes equity, and allows him to compete in mixed martial arts as early as 2023.
In addition to the notable investor names, PFL has also been able to sign an athlete who boasts significant name recognition in his own right. Biaggio Ali Walsh, the grandson of Muhammad Ali, made his successful PFL debut at the 2022 PFL World Championship last year. He will be featured in the opening fight of its second main card.
Ali Walsh is cognizant of his lineage and even sports a butterfly and bee tattooed on his forearms. However, still an amateur in his MMA career, the 25-year-old is making sure his home city debut is free of distractions.
“The people that I surround myself with, my family, my teammates, those are the only people I’m surrounding myself with leading up to a fight in my home base of Vegas. I do think it’s important to cut out all the distractions, but I don’t have that many right now. I’m only surrounding myself with people who love and support me.”
The Bishop Gorman graduate and former running back for UNLV under coach Tony Sanchez shared with LVSportsBiz.com how exciting it’s been to experience the growth of Las Vegas as a sports town.
“It’s nice to see the city. I grew up in getting all this traction in sports. Before the Knights we had the Wranglers and I would go to the Wranglers hockey games. It’s dope to see Vegas turn into a sports town now.”
PFL 2023 events in Las Vegas will stream on ESPN+ beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET with the action continuing on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET.
