Jake Paul Signs With PFL, Plans To Make MMA Debut In 2023

The YouTuber-turned-boxer will make his debut in the PFL’s Super Fight Division, where fighters make ‘at least’ 50% of pay-per-view profits.

The New York Times is reporting that Jake Paul has signed a contract to fight for the PFL (Professional Fight League).

At the start of 2023, Jake Paul promised he’d move from talk to action when it came to fixing MMA fighter pay. His first concrete step towards doing that? Crossing over into MMA, where he’ll undoubtedly pay himself a hefty purse to fight in a cage later this year.

According to the Times, Paul signed a multi-year deal with the PFL to compete in the promotion’s new ‘Super Fight Division,’ which will anchor the PFL’s pay-per-view events. While no dates have been revealed, the PFL plans on holding two pay-per-views this year and it’s expected Paul will compete on one while boxing once sometime in the year as well.

As part of the deal, Jake Paul now owns equity in the PFL, and his partner Nakisa Bidarian at Most Valuable Promotions will be helping the PFL with ‘logistics’ for pay-per-view events. Bidarian is the former Chief Financial Officer of the UFC from 2011 to 2016. Paul will also become the PFL’s ‘head of fighter advocacy.’

In what is the most interesting wrinkle of this deal, fighters in the Super Fight Division will earn ‘at least 50 percent of the pay-per-view revenue’ from PFL events. Sure, that may not have amounted to big bucks when the PFL held their first PPV event in November headlined by Kayla Harrison and the 2022 tournament finals. But with Paul attached to the event, the UFC may no longer be the highest paying MMA game in the business.

For years the UFC has been criticized for locking fighter pay across the promotion to roughly 18% of revenue. They’re currently embroiled in a slow moving class action lawsuit launched by former fighters arguing that they’re a monopoly and monopsony that has illegally used its market share to depress fighter pay. And while it will probably be a few more years at least before that case is worked out, this PFL deal gives a glimmer of hope that fighters like Nate Diaz, Francis Ngannou, Paulo Costa, and others can leave the UFC and have a platform where they can fight and be paid fairly.

We were a bit dubious when Jake Paul claimed he was going to change the game as far as MMA fighter pay went, but with some slick maneuvering and the right match-ups, the PFL could use his name to build their brand into a legitimate competitor to the UFC. The Professional Fight League debuted in 2018 and hoped to lure away big name MMA fighters from the UFC with their $1 million dollar tournament setup. The exodus never happened, partially due to the extremely restrictive and long-lasting nature of UFC contracts. But there’s a growing handful of fighters freeing themselves from those and becoming free agents.

We imagine 50% of PPV profits will sound pretty appealing to them once Paul proves a non-UFC PPV can sell a couple hundred thousand units.