Karisa Maxwell (Credit: PFL/Matt Ferris)
Karisa Maxwell: The Woman Behind the Lens Bringing PFL Fighters to the Spotlight
The beauty in combat sports is it is much different than most of the other popular worldwide sports. Fighters, all have their own reason for which they were brought into the combat sport they compete in. Telling the stories of these athletes is just as important as the result wherever they compete. The ability to tell these stories is what makes people like Karisa Maxwell not only important, but necessary, to combat sports coverage.
Not only is it separated by the fact that it is more individual base than team base, there is also the unknown of when an athletes next fight will happen. As content creator and on-air talent for PFL, Maxwell brings the fighters to the spotlight, allowing them to tell their story in their own way.
After spending years in previous stops such as VICE, Sporting News, and DAZN, Maxwell has gone from reporting to story telling, a skill that is uniquely difficult to master in combat sports, yet she does it with ease.
#PFLRegularSeason 🫡#PFLPlayoffs 🔜@kingimpa looks ahead to his rematch against @jmdasilv as the 2024 Million Dollar Journey continues in Miami on August 16th pic.twitter.com/DOqzFtZE57
— PFL (@PFLMMA) June 30, 2024
In her role with the PFL, Karisa Maxwell has been tasked in taking the lives of fighters, bringing them to the spotlight, while involving herself with them all on a personal level. It’s a level in which mutual respect is earned, a friendship is born, and a fulfillment of happiness is created according to her.
Speaking to MyMMANews about her role with the PFL, Maxwell beamed with pride and happiness when discussing the job she does, although heartbreak does come with it.
“The hardest part about my job is that I spend so much time with these fighters that I truly feel like I’m friends with them and I care about them so I know someone’s gotta lose and I don’t want to see them after they do, it’s hard. Especially after the second half of the season because I only interview the winners. I was only interviewing the guys and the girls that clinched the playoff spots so it’s always that awkward moment. It hurts your heart.”
Not always given the respect they deserve for the talent they’ve found and grown, Maxwell provided a few names that should be spotlighted as the future of the PFL, and MMA.
“Brendan Loughnane, Dakota Ditcheva, and Paul Hughes, these are fighters that, their not names up until this season, they were not known in the United States, but they are guaranteed gold mines whenever we do anything with them on social media. They blow up because their fan base is so freaking huge and passionate in Europe and now they keep winning in the fashion that they have won, to where It is now trickling over.”
It should say a lot that in a sport that embraces physical violence, the most enjoyable part for Karisa Maxwell is the kindness that these fighters show themselves to be.
“I think that is what drew me to the PFL when opportunity came up is like the fighters are just so nice sometimes too nice. But that’s not rewarded in other promotions. The over-the-top, selling the fight, selling themselves, selling the pay-per-view, I get they have to do that. They don’t have to do that with the PFL because of our season format, because of us being on ESPN, not being pay-per-view, so these fighters can be themselves and they use their talent to sell the fights.
Then it’s unfortunately up to people like me and you know that if they put the time into their own social to sell themselves and get people invested in them. I think it is the most undervalued assets of PFL is to have these fighters who are so extremely talented who are not obnoxious because eventually their talent is gonna catch up with them and it’s gonna outweigh the people who use their voice to get fights.”
Karisa Maxwell herself may very well be one of the most undervalued assets of PFL as well. Her ability to connect, engage, and establish a rapport with fighters where they trust her to tell their stories correctly, is special. As PFL business continues to grow globally through their International leagues and the growth of their top-tier Global league, the PFL will continue to thrive with someone like Maxwell bringing the stories of their fighters to the spotlight they deserve.
