Should MMA Bet on Jake Paul? Inside the PFL-MVP Merger

Beginning January 1, 2027, the PFL will be rebranded as MVP MMA following its merger with Most Valuable Promotions, bringing the MMA promotion under the same umbrella as Jake Paul's boxing company. The new organization will combine MMA and boxing under one combat-sports platform, with Paul and MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian helping lead the company.

And with Paul now sitting at the forefront of the new MVP MMA, one question immediately comes to mind:

Should MMA bet on Jake Paul?

That may sound ambitious, considering the UFC remains the biggest promotion in mixed martial arts by a considerable margin. But the PFL-MVP merger isn't simply another MMA promotion trying to copy the UFC.

It's trying to build something different.

Jake Paul already has an MMA blueprint

Before the PFL merger was even announced, Paul and Most Valuable Promotions had already tested what an MVP-run MMA promotion could look like.

In May, MVP staged its first MMA event at Los Angeles' Intuit Dome, headlined by the return of Ronda Rousey against Gina Carano. The event streamed live on Netflix and immediately proved that Paul could bring a massive mainstream audience to MMA.

Rousey submitted Carano in just 17 seconds, but the bigger story came from the audience watching at home. Netflix reported that the triple main event averaged 12.4 million viewers globally and peaked at nearly 17 million during Rousey vs. Carano. The event also generated one billion impressions across Netflix's global social channels.

Those are numbers MMA promoters cannot ignore. The card was essentially a preview of what MVP MMA could become.

Rousey and Carano represented MMA nostalgia. Francis Ngannou brought crossover appeal between boxing and MMA. Nate Diaz brought one of the sport's most recognizable personalities. Netflix provided a global platform capable of reaching casual fans who may never have searched for an MMA event on their own.

That is Paul's biggest advantage: He understands attention. The question now is whether that formula can work with a full-time MMA promotion.

Jake Paul is now at the forefront of MMA

Paul's involvement is perhaps the most fascinating part of the entire merger.

The former YouTube star has transformed himself into a professional boxer, promoter and businessman. Now, he is preparing to make his MMA debut in 2027 while simultaneously helping oversee the company that will promote some of the world's top MMA fighters.

Paul has spent years criticizing the UFC's treatment of fighters and arguing that athletes deserve more control, visibility and compensation. MVP has positioned itself around that philosophy, with Bidarian emphasizing a fighter-first model focused on building individual athletes rather than simply building the promotion's brand.

Whether that philosophy actually works at scale remains to be seen.

But there is no denying Paul knows how to create attention.

That could be incredibly valuable in MMA.

What happens to MVP's boxing business?

Then comes the obvious question: What happens to Most Valuable Promotions' boxing operation?

The answer is: it isn't going anywhere.

MVP's boxing business will continue alongside the new MVP MMA brand, creating something potentially unique in combat sports. Instead of treating boxing and MMA as completely separate worlds, the company could have a built-in pipeline between the two. Francis Ngannou already showed how powerful that crossover can be.

The former UFC heavyweight champion left MMA, became a professional boxer and shared the ring with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. The PFL was willing to accommodate Ngannou's boxing ambitions while keeping him under its umbrella.