Professional Fighters League made Shane Burgos an offer he couldn’t refuse.
The 11-time UFC veteran announced Monday on "The MMA Hour” that he has parted ways with the Las Vegas-based promotion to sign a contract with the PFL. Burgos completed his deal with a majority decision triumph over Charles Jourdain at UFC on ABC 3 on July 16.
“That was the last fight of my deal,” Burgos said. “I said after the fight that I wanted to test free agency, test the waters. I know what I am worth, I wanted to see what everyone else thought I was worth. So I went out there, I tested the free agency market and I’m excited to announce that I’m signing with the PFL.
“It was not an easy decision. It was an offer I couldn’t turn it [down]. I’ve got two daughters, I’ve got to go back home, I’ve got to look at them in the face when it’s all said and done in this sport. With this deal I feel like that will secure that.”
Burgos said that the PFL contract is not yet official but it is nearly finalized. He revealed that he previously negotiated with the promotion in the past but elected to stay with the UFC. This time, the UFC declined to match the PFL’s offer.
“Last time it was relatively close, that’s why I was like, ‘It’s not that big of a difference.’ It was a bigger difference [this time],” Burgos said. “It was a six-figure difference back then what I was going to get paid from the PFL and I turned that down to stay with the UFC. Now, it’s obviously bigger than that.”
Burgos expects to compete at featherweight for the 2023 PFL season before moving up to lightweight for the following campaign. The 31-year-old Team Tiger Schulmann representative went 8-3 during his UFC tenure, earning other notable wins against the likes of Cub Swanson, Makwan Amirkhani, Billy Quarantillo and Charles Rosa, among others. He owns a 15-3 professional record overall.
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