BELMONT PARK, NY - JULY 31: Usman Nurmagomedov poses for a photo with Jake Paul, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Nakisa Bidarian Archie Colgan during PFL New York at the UBS Arena on July 31, 2026 in Belmont Park, New York. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images) | Getty Images There was big news on the business side of MMA this week as a new merger was revealed between the the Professional Fighters League and Most Valuable Promotions that will see the PFL (formerly World Series of Fighting) drop their name and take on the MVP MMA moniker. MVP MMA debuted back in May with a big Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano fight that did massive numbers and set Jake Paul’s promotion up as a potential disruptor within the UFC-dominated mixed martial arts landscape. But if MVP MMA wanted to morph into a proper promotion, where would it draw its fighters from? Enter the PFL, which has the roster but lacks MVP’s ability to create events that move the mainstream needle. MVP is best known as Jake Paul’s promotion, but former UFC Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Financial Officer Nakisa Bidarian is the business brains behind the organization. In a new interview with Bloomberg, Bidarian discussed MVP MMA and how being a fighter-first promotion is more than just a talking point. “We started this company five years ago and we’ve been disruptors in the boxing landscape, in the content consumption landscape,” Bidarian said. “[We] brought the first professional live sporting event to Netflix. When we decided to do MMA we always said if it was successful we’re going to do more.” “And what did more look like? Well, more now looks like we have the benefit of world class infrastructure, world class fighters, and the leadership of [PFL head] John Martin as our CEO of the overall platform.” “The focus has always been to at least provide 50% of revenue to athletes,” he declared. “So when we look at the traditional ball and stick sports that achieve those types of revenue share metrics for the athletes. All of those entities have created massive amounts of enterprise value … If you look at other sports, when athletes get fair share, they’re more invested. They’re more committed, the product is better, and there’s total cohesion.” The UFC’s revenue share with fighters is pathetic, floating between 13% to 20%, and it’s not going to get any better because any extra percentage that goes to fighters is a percentage that isn’t getting to TKO ownership and investors. That’s not the case with MVP, which Bidarian says will stay private for the foreseeable future. MVP MMA has its work cut out for it, as most of the top names in the sport are signed to extremely restrictive contracts with the UFC. Even fighters like Jon Jones who can’t come to terms with the UFC for a fight can’t get out of their deals and fight for MVP. “We plan to stay private for a long period of time, and we can have financial flexibility that you really can’t as a public entity,” he said. “In many ways, I wish the UFC would show up tomorrow and say we’re increasing fighter pay to 50%. But guess what? They can’t do that. That will crush their margins, which will crush their enterprise value, which will crush their personal net worth. We have the ability to be aggressive in how we structure our deals and go after the best talent in the world.” But Bidarian has years of UFC experience to draw on, as well as a viral star in Jake Paul to build tentpole events around. He now has the PFL’s infrastructure as well, which honestly could be more of a hindrance than help. We’ll see how things go when MVP and PFL officially merge at the start of 2027.