The PFL had some major highlights throughout 2024 from the debut of Francis Ngannou to the rise of one of the promotion's new focal points, Dakota Ditcheva. However, the year also provided them with some difficult challenges, some of which are yet to be dealt with now that 2025 is underway.
PFL founder Donn Davis spoke about this in a recent post on LinkedIn which has attracted the wrong kind of attention. In an effort to show the other side to what most business owners put out there on social media, Davis listed "5 bad things that happened to PFL in 2024."
The majority of the post references things that happened behind the scenes which fight fans wouldn't have known about as Davis talks through some of the issues that they have experienced that come with running a company of this scale. He reveals how throughout 2024, they have had to battle potential investors wasting their time, an advertiser deal breaking down, the costs of international expansion into new regions and a delay in the promotion's plans which was caused by one of their partners.
It is the third entry in the list that is particularly of note as unlike the other problems, this one has taken place in the public eye. The PFL's acquisition of Bellator has certainly led to the promotion having a better product overall when it comes to the talent on their roster but keeping everyone busy and happy has been a major issue with several big names openly voicing their issues with the way that they have been treated.
Davis made reference to this in his post where he appeared to criticize these fighters for making claims which have damaged the promotion's public perception.
"Some Bellator star fighters complained on social media about not fighting, making PFL look like not meet our contracts."