The Professional Fighters League (PFL) has altered its season format for 2025, restructuring its tournaments, prize money and rules.

Historically, the PFL has held a regular season or ‘group stage’, with fighters earning different amounts of points and a chance to advance to the semi-finals, followed by a final offering a $1m payday. Another major factor in the MMA promotion was its ban on the use of elbow strikes.

For the 2025 season, however, the PFL’s tournaments will kickstart with a quarter-final round, meaning a loss will eliminate a fighter immediately. Also, the prize money for a winning finalist will be $500,000. Furthermore, elbows will be legal.

The quarter-final or ‘first-round’ bouts will be contested across three five-minute rounds, as will the semi-finals, while the finals will be scheduled for five five-minute rounds.

These structures, rules and prize money will apply to all eight divisions in the PFL: heavyweight, light-heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, featherweight, bantamweight and women’s flyweight.

First-round bouts will take place on 3 April, 11 April and 18 April – with an extra date to be confirmed. The semi-finals are then set for 12 June, 20 June and 27 June, and the championship finals are scheduled for 1 August, 15 August and 21 August.