While UFC CEO and President Dana White has long been adverse to cross-promotion, the same is not true of Most Valuable Promotion’s Co-Founder Nakisa Bidarian.
On the heels of MVP’s first-ever MMA event, Rousey vs. Carano, Bidarian spoke with Cageside Press and other media outlets, and had high praise for current Professional Fighters League CEO John Martin in particular.
Sitting alongside Jake Paul, the other half of MVP, Bidarian explained to Cageside Press that “It’s really interesting, because obviously Jake and I had a relationship with PFL where we were brought in to try to help the company. And I would say there was a transition period for them when we got on, and then they bought Bellator and kind of the focus changed, and so we didn’t really have the success that we would have hoped there. Nor the access, to be honest, or the consistent kind of communication that would have allowed him [Paul] to do the best of what he does.”
Jake Paul was signed to the PFL several years back and occasionally appeared on the league’s broadcasts, with an MMA debut rumored but never materializing. He’s no longer under contract with the league, though Bidarian previously told Cageside Press that Paul could compete in MMA next year.
As for the current PFL, led by John Martin and with founder Donn Davis out of the picture, “I would say they’re doing some great things now under John’s leadership. He’s obviously a seasoned media executive, but more importantly he’s passionate about MMA. Much more than I am. Not more than Jake, but much more than I am.”
“I’m not a boxing guy, I’m not a marketing guy. I’m a product guy. I’m a marketing guy, and I’m trying to disrupt and do amazing things and build a legacy for the athletes. But John Martin loves MMA. It’s very clear. When I met with him in 2015, 2016 when we were trying to sell the UFC, I walked away saying ‘that guy’s entity should own the UFC.’ Obviously they’ve done well with Ari [Emmanuel] and SilverLake and KKR, but we’d be open to talking to them about ways of leveraging their roster.”
Bidarian, who previously served as the UFC’s Chief Financial Officer, admitted that the PFL lacks “star power in terms of creating events that we could do what we did here tonight with Netflix,” but added that “there’s components of that organization that would fit nicely with our star power, or people that want to work with us. So that would be welcomed.”
Much will depend on how well MVP MMA’s Rousey vs. Carano did for streaming giant Netflix, mind you.