RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 2 sourcesLongtime PFL commentator Dan Hardy only sees upside to the newly announced merger with MVP MMA.
PFL and MVP announced Thursday a landmark collaboration that will see the two entities merge into one brand over the coming months and into 2027. More details are still forthcoming, but between the roster of PFL and the promotional tentacles of the Jake Paul and Nakisa Badarian-run MVP side, Hardy thinks this news should be welcomed with tremendous hope and optimism.
"It's exciting. There's a real buzz amongst the staff, around the fighters," Hardy told MMA Junkie on Thursday. "They feel like their profiles are going to jump now. There's been a lot more exposure for them. It's just exciting on a lot of different fronts. We've worked with Jake Paul in the past through the PFL. I called a couple of his fights, as well, in boxing – the one against Nate Diaz – and he's such an interested entity. He's such an anti-hero, especially compared to the UFC. I think what him and Nakisa Badarian did with the first MVP card, it shows there's a big audience out there if you put the right fights on and the right events on the right platform.
"I think the one thing PFL have struggled with is that exposure to be on the right platform and the accessibility, especially internationally. … Netflix is such a huge platform that any kind of exposure we can get on Netflix is huge, and I just think from the fighters' perspective, this really is exciting because now they know it's going to go from hundreds of thousands of people seeing them, to potentially millions. Having a voice like Jake Paul shouting from the rooftops about whatever we're doing, it's a benefit no matter how you see it."
The big unknown at this point is where the revitalized product will be distributed. PFL's broadcast deal with ESPN expires at the end of 2026, while MVP's lone MMA event thus far was streamed live on Netflix.
Hardy said there are significant power players involved behind the scenes that are working toward finalize a home with the biggest reach for events. If Netflix remains involved, that would be a game-changer for everyone involved.
"Nakisa is a powerhouse," Hardy said. "He hustles, and him and Jake working together have always proven to be a very strong partnership. I think now with the stability and the infrastructure that PFL has already set up to basically come in underneath what MVP are already trying to do and give it a lot of support and the structure it needs. We did 16 shows this year was the schedule. We were looking at 22 next year. We're scaling up and be doing more shows anyway. I think with the way that we put our shows together and the production quality that we can put out, I just think it makes a lot of sense.
"It's a win for the fighters. It's a huge win for the mixed martial arts and the options for MMA fighters. That's something that I think certainly people will know that it's essential for these things to be successful that the fighters do have the options."
Hardy said he expects to be "a lot busier from this point forward" after the merger news, and said he's been informed that calling boxing events under the MVP banner could be in his future, as well.
As far as the MMA side, though, Hardy hopes and anticipates the merged brand will be a much more attractive location for athletes than previous iterations. The financial backing is stronger than ever before, and Hardy hopes that will be desirable as the new MVP MMA looks to close the distance on UFC as the prominent brand in the sport.
"If you're a fighter, like say Usman Nurmagomedov for example, he's getting paid very, very well here," Hardy said. "I don't know whether the UFC would respect him, appreciate him both financially and on an exposure level, the way that he is over here. That's only going to increase. It's going to increase tremendously with Netflix on side, as well. There's potential for higher purses for these fighters for a similar level of exposure that UFC could offer in the coming years. The more fighters start to realize that, 'I'll think about my financial well-being as a priority,' which now I think fighters are starting to do, I think that puts us in a very strong place to start bargaining for some of these high-level fighters, some of these big names that are coming to the end of their UFC contracts. It's an exciting time to have an option like this. … That's an exciting thing in the market if you're a fighter to consider free agency, which I would encourage everyone to do that at this stage.
"I still think it's going to take time (to catch up to UFC). I love the UFC. My wife is a UFC fighter. My history and the history I get in the MMA space is because I was a UFC fighter. They've done incredible things for the sport. But it's healthy for these organizations to have competitors. When you have one powerhouse organization, everyone else kind of shrivels up in their shadow, and that's not good for anybody. It kills the grass roots of MMA."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Dan Hardy breaks down PFL-MVP MMA merger: 'A win for the fighters'
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