The
Professional Fighters League is undergoing another major
change.

PFL CEO John Martin announced Tuesday that he's stepping down.
Martin's decision comes hardly a month after PFL merged with

Most Valuable Promotions. Martin had assumed the role of CEO of
the merged brand.

John Martin steps down as PFL-MVP CEO and backs Nakisa Bidarian
to lead next

Martin also said MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian is likely to take
over after him.

“After an incredible year and the successful combination of PFL and
MVP, I've made the decision to step down as CEO of the combined
company,†Martin announced on Instagram. “I'm enormously proud of
what this team has accomplished and couldn't have more confidence
in what comes next. Nakisa and I worked closely together to bring
these companies together, and I believe he is the natural person to
lead this next chapter. I'm grateful to the entire team and Board
for their partnership, and I'll be cheering for MVP as both a
former executive and a fan.â€

A flyweight
title fight headlines PFL Chicago: Tune in on Saturday, Oct. 16 at
11 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Martin took charge as PFL CEO after former CEO Peter Murray and
chairman Donn Davis departed in July 2025.

John Martin
announced on his personal instagram this morning that he is
stepping down as CEO of MVP/PFL effective immediately.

Here is the statement. We will have much more on this on today's
show. pic.twitter.com/XF3tS4kpgO

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani)
September 22, 2026

Chuck
Liddell says the use of wrestling in modern mixed martial arts
by some fighters doesn't sit well with him.

The
Ultimate Fighting Championship Hall of Famer has no problem
with wrestling itself. What bothers him is how fighters use it to
stall, rather than inflict damage or progress towards submission
attempts.

Chuck Liddell takes issue with control-heavy wrestling that
doesn’t pursue a finish

During a recent livestream with N3on, Liddell was asked whether
there's a current fighter he doesn't enjoy watching. Rather than
name an active UFC fighter, the former champ singled out a style
that has become increasingly common in MMA.

“I don't like the guys who try to wrestle and hold,†Liddell
said.

Liddell explained that his issue isn’t with grappling, but with
fighters who use wrestling primarily to control their opponents
without actively pursuing a finish.

“They're not trying to finish. I've got nothing against wrestling.
I like wrestling,†Liddell added. “Good ground and pound?
Great!â€

Liddell also placed some responsibility on the fighter stuck in
bottom position, arguing that failing to improve their ability to
escape contributes to the problem.

“But the guys that are just sitting there trying to win by just
holding a guy [I don't like it],†Liddell said. “It's the guy on
the bottom's fault for not getting better at getting up, too,
right? He's kind of causing some of the problems.â€

Colby
Covington believes Gable
Steveson needs to make changes after suffering his first defeat
in mixed martial arts.

The former
Ultimate Fighting Championship interim titleholder singled out
Steveson training under Jon Jones as
one of the changes the Olympian needs to make following his
12-second knockout loss to heavy underdog Sean Sharaf
at UFC
331.

Covington says Steveson should find a new camp and return to
his Olympic wrestling roots

In an interview with Submission Radio, “Chaos†said Steveson has
moved too far away from the wrestling that made him an Olympic
champion, arguing that the heavyweight should return to his roots
rather than focusing on his striking.

“I definitely saw this coming,†Covington told Submission Radio.
“You know, he was over-hyping himself, overlooking other
competitors and he just thought he was invincible. You don’t see
him try to wrestle in any fights; he’s just going straight into
striking. But when you forget about what got you to the dance,
that’s always going to be a recipe for disaster.â€

Covington then suggested that Steveson needs to leave Jones, his
Iowa Central Community College roommate, and train elsewhere.

“Jon Jones is bad energy,†Covington said. “That guy is a demon,
man. So, he should definitely cut Jon Jones, and get to a new camp,
get focused and start believing and start using his wrestling, what
got you to the dance.â€