Cyborg Questions PFL’s ‘Toxic Work Environment’

Cyborg accused the PFL of giving her the cold shoulder while making specific claims about what her fighting future entails.

The PFL’s purchase of Bellator has gone pretty smoothly thus far. Head honcho Donn Davis has spent a lot of time with the media explaining how the old promotion will fit into the new promotion’s structure, and the deal sounds pretty good for everyone. All fighters are being brought across, and all former Bellator employees have been welcomed to PFL as well.

But not everyone is pleased. Following the PFL 2023 season finals, Cris Cyborg reacted to comments from Davis about her 2024 participation in the PFL with an angry message on X (formerly Twitter).

“Lots of plans being made and announced,” she wrote. “I have not had any contact with anyone from the PFL since news of the purchase.”

“One thing I will control is how my career finishes,” she continued. “Company culture and the way I am going to be treated as I finish the final fights of my career are a priority. Despite having two fighters call me out fight night, I was one of the few Bellator champions not to be contacted or invited to the show.”

“I’m financially at a point in my life that I’m unwilling to enter into any toxic work environments. My mental health is too important. I am excited to be boxing Jan 19th and after talks with my team have occurred will start to look at the options for my MMA return.”

This was in response to Davis saying “Cris will have two fights in 2024. Kayla will have two fights in 2024. One of those will be Cris against Kayla.”

That may be tricky for the PFL to sort now. Not only does Cyborg sound unimpressed with the way she’s been treated since the merge, but Kayla Harrison just fought in the final bout of her PFL contract on Saturday night. So both sides of the superfight equation are currently in limbo.