PFL has hired one of Bellator’s top executives following the acquisition of the MMA promotion.
Longtime matchmaker and executive Mike Kogan has come to terms with PFL and will stick around under new management, he confirmed when contacted by MMA Junkie after an initial report by ESPN.
“I’m excited to get started,” Kogan told MMA Junkie on Wednesday. “I feel like Donn (Davis) and Pete (Murray) have a vision, I’ve met and talked to them, and I get it. I think they are looking at me to bring my 20-plus year experience in the fight game to add to their vision, and together we’re going to take this thing to the next level. It’s good to have more than one player in the market. It’s good for fights and fans. At the end of the day, our job is simple: Deliver the best fights we can for the fans, and that’s exactly what we are going to do.”
While exact details of how the two promotions will run concurrently is still being hashed out, Kogan is joining with the title of Head of Bellator Fight Operations while also assisting with PFL’s larger plans.
Additionally, senior Bellator public relations manager CJ Tuttle joins Kogan under the PFL banner.
Shortly after the purchase, PFL founder Donn Davis publicly said all Bellator employees would be offered jobs, but it remains unclear who, besides Kogan and Tuttle from Bellator, will cross over.
Bellator president Scott Coker is among those yet to comment on his professional future.
While Coker was at the helm for nearly a decade, Kogan largely remained out of sight but served as a major player in overseeing Bellator’s day-to-day operations and determining its bigger picture. Prior to his tenure with Bellator, Kogan managed various big-name fighters, including Nate Diaz among others.
Upon news of the finalization of PFL’s purchase of Bellator, many fighters flocked to social media to advocate that Kogan stick around.
The Bellator International Champions Series is set to hold eight events in 2024. It will be one of five PFL-owned fight series, also including the PFL regular season, PFL pay-per-view superfights series, PFL Challenger Series, and PFL International Leagues.
