John Martin Details How a Six-Hour Meeting Built the PFL-MVP Merger
John Martin says the PFL-MVP merger started with a text, a same-day flight, and a first meeting that ran about six hours. The PFL CEO told The Ariel Helwani Show that once he sat down with Most Valuable Promotions co-founder Nakisa Bidarian, the strategy clicked for everyone in the room.
“I sat with Nakisa, the first time, for about 6 hours. We went round and round, and the idea from a strategy standpoint, I think, made sense to all of us immediately.”
The companies announced the deal on July 30. They are combining under the MVP banner, with Martin as CEO and board member and Jake Paul and Bidarian as co-founders and board members.
Martin said the first spark came after an earlier Helwani appearance in New York, possibly in March. Helwani asked about whispers of a PFL rebrand, and Martin said he answered honestly because they were already testing names.
One of those names was Bellator. That sent people racing toward the idea of a full Bellator return, which Martin said was not the plan.
After he left the studio, Bidarian texted him. Martin said the MVP co-founder thanked him for comments about MVP’s May 16 MMA debut and then asked a bigger question.
If the PFL was thinking about a rebrand, Bidarian wanted to talk, because he believed there was a larger idea. Martin called that timing ironic, because he had already planned to reach out after that same May card.
He wanted to see the event first. He had also been watching the rest of the combat market, including the UFC’s Paramount deal, Zuffa’s move into boxing, and the money Turki Alalshikh has poured into major boxing shows.
What stood out, he said, was MVP’s Netflix relationship and Paul’s reach. Martin called Paul a rare mix of fighter, global creator, and promoter who can pull attention most companies cannot buy.
PFL, in his view, had the other half of the puzzle. He pointed to a deep MMA roster, a global event business, and 34 media partners already in place.
The gap was obvious to him. MVP could grab casual fans, while the PFL could not, and MVP would need years to build an MMA roster from scratch.
Martin said he thought a partnership could speed both companies up. Bidarian just beat him to the phone.
“I said, where are you? He said, I’m in London. I said, great, I’m getting on a plane tomorrow.”
He also brought in Sudeep Ramnani, the 885 Capital principal and a key PFL investor, who flew from Spain. The three of them sat down in London, and that is where the six-hour first meeting happened.
Martin said they still needed to learn each other as people. Bidarian remembered him from the 2016 UFC sale process, when Bidarian was the UFC’s CFO.
The idea picked up speed that day. Martin then went back to Spain with Ramnani and spent another day walking through what the deal would mean for the sport and for both companies.
He said doing it together could lock in a real No. 2 place in combat sports. Doing it alone, he argued, would take too long on either side.
They even tried to finish the deal before May 16. Martin said they could not get it closed in time, so they paused and let the MVP debut go ahead.
He attended that show as a guest of Bidarian and Paul. Martin said the arena held 16,500 people and that the card did what he needed to see.
The merger is now official. 885 Capital and Knighthead Capital are founding investors, Bidarian is keeping the boxing and live-event side, and Paul is charged with growing the audience.
PFL events are still running during the transition, with the MMA business expected to move fully under MVP MMA in the coming months. Martin has said he wants that shift ready around the start of 2027.
The origin story he told Helwani is simpler than the press release. A rebrand question on a podcast turned into a London meeting, and that meeting became the PFL-MVP merger now trying to turn two incomplete companies into one combat sports platform.