Elbows now legal in all PFL bouts
The Professional Fighters League (PFL) will now legally allow elbows to be used for striking an opponent, in all promotional bouts. PFL chairman and founder Donn Davis made the announcement on Monday.
New Year … New Adjustments
YOU asked for ELBOWS@PFLMMA is giving you elbows!All elbows. All fights. All the time. #PFLMMA 2025 … COMING
— Donn Davis (@DonnDavisPFL) January 6, 2025
The UFC, the world’s leading mixed martial arts promotion, has allowed elbows to be used, but had a ban on downward pointing elbow strikes known as 12 to 6, until 2024.
The Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports (ABCC) lifted the ban on 12 to 6 elbows in July 2024. The new rules went into effect at UFC Fight Night 246 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on November 2, 2024.
Since its inception in 2018, the PFL had banned elbows for the regular season and playoffs. Elbows were typically allowed in non-season and non-playoff fights only.
Elbows were legal in the PFL’s final event of 2024 this past November in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
