Javier Mendez doesn’t see PFL fighters doing well against Bellator’s.
The PFL has officially acquired Bellator, and founder and co-owner Donn Davis revealed plans to do a champions vs. champions “mega-event” in 2024.
Mendez has several fighters on the Bellator roster, including lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov. The American Kickboxing Academy head coach argues that outside of Kayla Harrison, PFL’s champions don’t have notable names.
“They’re not revolving, they’re not lasting and they’re not known,” Mendez said on his YouTube channel on PFL’s champions. “Their champs aren’t known worldwide. I can’t tell you who the champ is. Only thing I know is Kayla Harrison, honestly. That’s sad, and of course, the two great acquisitions they had in Francis Ngannou and Jake Paul. Those are stellar acquisitions.”
If PFL’s champions go up against Bellator’s in head-to-head matchups, Mendez doesn’t like their chances.
“My guess is the vast majority of PFL guys are going to lose to the Bellator guys,” Mendez said. “That’s my prediction, the vast majority are going to lose. The heavyweight division, of course, if Ngannou is the heavyweight, no, he’s going to win. I don’t really know of too many other divisions.”
Davis also said that a “reimagined” Bellator brand, named “Bellator International Champions Series,” will run concurrent to PFL in 2024 with eight “one-off” events in 2024. But Mendez worries about the future of a lot of Bellator fighters.
“It’s a great move for PFL, it’s a sad move for a lot of fighters that are going to lose their jobs because from what I hear they’re only gonna do eight shows for Bellator,” Mendez said. “So, they’re cutting down drastically. They’re going to have to cut fighters.”
