ABX, the Belgian TV channel of French media group Mediawan, has secured domestic rights to the Professional Fighters League (PFL) ahead of the mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion’s PFL Europe event in Brussels.
The new deal will start with ABX airing PFL Brussels, which will be held at the Belgian city’s ING Arena on May 23, with the event to be headlined by a bout between the undefeated Patrick Habirora, and Benson Henderson.
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The event will also showcase current and next-generation Belgian MMA fighters, including Boris Mbarga Atangana and Movsar Ibragimov.
The new partnership comes amid a huge growth period for PFL, having most recently extended its rights tie-up in Germany and surrounding markets with global subscription service DAZN DACH, which will continue to provide coverage of the main series, PFL Africa, and PFL MENA across Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, and Liechtenstein.
Earlier this month, the PFL also announced a new deal with pay-TV operator Sky New Zealand (NZ) for the 2026 season, which will see Sky NZ air all 16 PFL Global events in 2026, and also added sports technology firm Sportradar to distribute its betting data and betting streaming rights.
The PFL’s exclusive agreement with Sportradar sees the firm sit at the center of the PFL’s global betting and gaming strategy, covering its entire sports betting ecosystem, including betting data, odds formation, live broadcasts, real-time betting wagers, and fan engagement initiatives.
Other broadcast deals landed this year, include tie-ups with Movistar+, the streaming platform of the Spanish pay-TV heavyweight, France’s RMC Sport, which provides coverage of all PFL events across France, Monaco, Andorra, Luxembourg, and Switzerland, and Japan’s U-Next.
Ahead of the 2026 season, PFL also announced a new deal with a Chinese sports streaming platform earlier this month, while FSM Rights, a division of major US network Fox Corporation, secured rights across Mexico and Central America.
A key focus for PFL is now to secure a new media rights deal in the US, with the promotion’s existing agreement with sports network ESPN expiring later this year.
In a recent interview with GlobalData Sport (Sportcal), Martin, who was appointed as CEO in July last year, stated that agreeing a new deal in PFL’s home market is his “biggest priority” this year.
ESPN has agreed several renewals with PFL since initially acquiring rights in 2019, with the most recent extension – a multi-year agreement – struck in 2023.
The broadcaster, however, recently lost rights to the rival UFC, with media giant Paramount securing a blockbuster seven-year, $7.7 billion agreement, putting ESPN in danger of potentially losing two MMA properties if a renewal with PFL isn’t reached.
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