Do you rebrand or renew a brand that is currently the butt of many jokes on the MMA internet?

The Professional Fighters League (PFL) began in 2017, already a rebrand from the World Series of Fighting (WSOF), which was fun in its own right.

Some great fighters fought there, like Justin Gaethje, David Branch, Marlon Moraes, and many more.

When MMA got big, fighters seemed to flow everywhere between the UFC, PFL, ONE (when they were still fun), and a few other places. This is good for fans and fighters, so I don't understand why anyone wouldn't want it.

More on that here.

But this isn't about that. This is about what you would do if you were at the helm of the PFL?

This week, it came up that PFL CEO John Martin mentioned a possible rebrand. Another one, if we're looking at its history.

While I have a lot of love for the Bellator brand and almost jumped on the idea of bringing it back, Grabaka Hitman (great follow if you aren't following yet) brought up some really good points.

caposa @Grabaka_Hitman Supported Bellator through all their various eras. The brand ran its course. People even wanted THEM to rebrand at one point. Unless you're moving in a completely new and fresh direction, just stick with PFL. Now is not the time to go backwards. https://twitter.com/jedigoodman/status/2039066836919267621 Jed I. Goodman © @jedigoodman Ariel Helwani tells Johnny Eblen he has heard PFL is considering a rebrand and one of the options on the table is bringing back Bellator, making PFL Bellator again. He asks Eblen if he has heard this and what does he think about this. #HelwaniShow 9:6 PM • Mar 31, 2026 17 Retweets 178 Likes Read 23 replies

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Martin's got a chance here to move forward and not rebrand, but fix everything people didn't like about the PFL.

Even if it's just holding events, with no tournament format, and just the standard fight card. I think he can do it because he's into it and seems more present in the promotion than his predecessor.

When you look at what Coker did with Strikeforce and his time at Bellator, when you look at David Feldman and the BKFC, or RIZIN Fighting Federation and Nobuyuki Sakakibara. They focused on what they were doing and stopped or did their best not to compare themselves to the UFC.

They just worry about making great fights — for fighters who want to fight.

Wouldn't that be good for everyone?

Unless you're one of those haters I mentioned earlier.

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