Jonathan Coachman: A Welcome Voice for the PFL

Can’t wait for the debut of our new show next week on espn2 https://t.co/JQddPArrhN

— The Coach (@Thecoachrules) March 21, 2025

Jonathan Coachman knows the art of storytelling, having spent over a decade in World Wrestling Entertainment. The 51-year-old McPherson, Kansas, native, who runs Behind the Turnbuckle Studios, now brings his veteran experience, knowledge and intelligence to the Professional Fighters League as part of a new chapter in the promotion’s history.

Coachman has spent the last few years alongside Ian Parker as a betting analyst for PFL events but will move into a new role as a voice for the fighters and the organization in 2025. Not only will he serve as a post-fight host for the company, but he will also take on the take on the task of sharing fighter stories and helping them grow their individual brands, all while deepening the PFL’s global footprint.

“I’ve always seen the PFL as a diamond in the rough, and I think they’ve had a good start, but if I’m being candid, we needed to make some changes,” Coachman told Sherdog.com. “We needed to bring in some people, like myself, who understand promotion, understand how to build fighters and how to build stars, but you’re not going to do it overnight. I think [PFL executives] Donn [Davis] and Pete [Murray] have done a good job of bringing in some really good people. We’re going to be changing a lot, but we’re going to be focused on what we do.”

Not looking to compete with the Ultimate Fighting Championship or any other promotion, Coachman believes the change to the PFL format—from a regular-season points setup to a world tournament—will be a relatively seamless transition for everyone involved. The company’s focus remains on putting out the best possible product.

“Fans will adapt to anything,” Coachman said. “I’ve always said don’t worry about the fanbase. Let’s worry about [whether or not] we [are] making it entertaining for the fanbase. The more I sunk my teeth into this, there is no safety net. There is no, ‘I had a good fight and I can still get into the playoffs.’ That’s not here anymore. You’ve got to come out ready to go, and now, they have to decide how aggressive they want to be, because now they need to win and move on.

“They also need to figure out how to be a player in the MMA community that fans want to watch,” he added. “Now they can be a draw. Now they control their environment and ultimately make more money down the road. If I was sitting in front of all the fighters telling them what I think they should think about, it’s be as entertaining as possible.”

Of all the divisions involved in the 2025 PFL World Tournament, the 185-pound weight class seems to inspire the most intrigue for Coachman. It features Impa Kasanganay, Murad Ramazanov, Fabian Edwards, Dalton Rosta, Joshua Silveira, Sadibou Sy, Mike Shipman and Aaron Jeffery.

“To me, it’s the middleweight bracket,” he said. “I’m a huge Impa Kasanganay fan. I’m big on stories, and I am big on the brand within the brand. Impa is one of those guys that’s a PFL guy. One of the things I want over the next five to 10 years is to make all of our fighters PFL fighters. I don’t want the narrative of taking guys who used to fight elsewhere in the UFC. I want to grow our own fighters. Josh Silveira is another fighter who was not fighting in his natural weight class, and I think [with] those two guys in particular, as well as Sadibou Sy, this tournament is going to be hard to win this year. There are no gimmes.”

Coachman leaned on his experience and past success when he assessed the PFL landscape. He then showed the powers that be how he could be a valuable asset for the organization and each fighter along the way.

“I don’t want to sound cocky or arrogant, but you know what you know and I know what I’m good at,” he said. “That’s why I pitched them this new role and told them they need a face and a leader, because the fighters are always changing. I also think that the fighters need someone like me to look at and see they have someone in their corner, where if the fighters go out and do their job, the promoter, the PFL, will do their job. That’s why I’ll be doing the press conferences [and] the post-fight shows for the first time in company history. I learned from some of the best in the WWE that it’s about promotion, but every big star I worked with, they knew if they did their job, the promotion machine would then do their job.”