PFL Officially Announces Tournament Format, $500K Payouts for Winners

You only get 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗧.☝️

64 Fighters. Single elimination tournament 💰🏆

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One Shot to WIN. One Shot to ADVANCE. One Shot at a WORLD TITLE#PFLWorldTournament pic.twitter.com/7YlTLgKPAB

— PFL (@PFLMMA) January 15, 2025

As expected, Professional Fighters League is doing away with its season format in favor of grand-prix style tournaments in each weight class.

The promotion announced on Wednesday that it will be launching what is called its 2025 World Tournament beginning this April. The single-elimination brackets will feature eight fighters from eight different weight classes — heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, featherweight, bantamweight and women’s flyweight. Winners will receive a $500,000 bonus, and according to a release, the PFL World Tournament will “pay out over $20 million in prize money” overall.

The first round of the tournament will begin in April, followed by semifinals in June and finals in August. The eight brackets — along with all 64 participating athletes — will be announced in February. All bouts will be broadcast on ESPN and ESPN+.

“The PFL World Tournament is continued innovation by PFL, and we are thrilled to present to global MMA fans an even more exciting product,” PFL CEO Peter Murray said. “One shot, single elimination, nothing more exciting in all of sports.”

The previous PFL format relied a points format with regular season standings that determined who would earn a postseason berth. The campaign concluded with a championship finale where the winner in each weight class received $1 million payout.

2025 PFL World Tournament Schedule:

First Round
April 3
April 11
April 18
TBD

Semifinals
June 12
June 20
June 27

Championships
Aug. 1
Aug.15
Aug. 21