Jake Paul’s time with the PFL has ended before it really ever began. The popular YouTuber-turned-boxer, who inked a multi-year promotional deal with PFL in early 2023 in anticipation of an MMA debut that never came, is no longer with the company.
Uncrowned’s Ariel Helwani broke the news Wednesday on “The Ariel Helwani Show.”
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Said Helwani:
“Whatever affiliation, business-wise or not, that Jake Paul and his team had with the PFL, I’m hearing that that is no more. So that is something that kept being brought up, regarding would he fight, would he not, promotional — that was a big thing that they did a couple years ago. I’m told that that term has come to an end.”
Paul, 29, announced his signing with PFL in January 2023. The move was presented as a major coup for the then-burgeoning MMA promotion, with Paul stating that in addition to his eventual MMA debut taking place under the promotion’s umbrella, he was also set to be a co-founder of PFL’s ill-fated “pay-per-view superfight division,” as well as the organization’s new “head of fighter advocacy.”
Paul, however, never competed in MMA. He boxed professionally eight times following his PFL signing, including three massively consumed bouts on Netflix against former boxing world champions Mike Tyson, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., and most recently Anthony Joshua this past December.
News of Paul’s exit from PFL coincides with Wednesday’s surprising departure of PFL founder and chairman Donn Davis, who joined former PFL president Ray Sefo and PFL CEO Peter Murray as longtime senior executives to part ways with the company in recent weeks.
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PFL on Wednesday also announced its latest round of successful funding which “strengthens the organization’s financial position and ownership structure” for 2026.
Per the press release announcing the funding, “certain affiliates of Knighthead Capital Management, LLC (‘Knighthead’) and 885 Capital have expanded their ownership stakes” and the PFL has “established a new nine-member Board of Directors, who will oversee the organization’s strategic direction as it enters its next phase of growth and product evolution.”
Paul (12-2 boxing, 7 KOs) is currently recovering from the broken jaw he suffered in his losing effort against Joshua.
