WSOF Becomes “Professional Fighters League”

World Series of Fighting is no more, but that doesn’t mean the promotion is going away: On Wednesday it was announced that the struggling MMA promotion is rebranding as the Professional Fighters League, a tournament-style "league" with a 2018 debut planned.

The promotion announced the news with a press release on Wednesday morning:

WASHINGTON, DC and LAS VEGAS — Today, the Professional Fighters League announced the formation of the world’s only mixed martial arts (MMA) league. The new league will debut in January 2018 with a $10 million prize pool across seven weight classes. The Professional Fighters League purchased the fighting operations and event infrastructure of the World Series of Fighting (WSOF) earlier this year.

Russ Ramsey, Executive Chairman, Professional Fighters League, described the new league as a transformative moment for MMA: “The Professional Fighters League brings a proven sports format that fans love and athletes respect to MMA for the first time. Featuring a regular season, post-season, and championship structure, the launch of the Professional Fighters League continues the evolution of MMA into a professional, mass-market, prime-time sport for a global audience.”

The new league is open to all professional MMA fighters worldwide. Fighters will participate in one of seven weight classes and compete in regularly scheduled fights throughout a season. At the end of the regular season, fighters with the best records will advance to a “win-or-go-home” post-season playoff tournament. Each tournament winner in the seven weight classes will be named the Professional Fighters League season champion and collect a $1 million cash prize. An additional $3 million will be shared between other regular season and playoff competitors.

The Professional Fighters League format gives every fighter an equal and fair shot, and provides fans the excitement and transparency of a true sport.