Pillow fighting is moving out of the bedroom and into the boxing ring, with Pillow Fight Championship (PFC) to hold its first live, pay-per-view event in Florida on Jan. 29.
PFC chief executive officer Steve Williams, the man with a dream to turn childhood horseplay into a professional combat sport, said that PFC delivers all the drama of hand-to-hand combat without the gore of mixed martial arts or boxing.
“It’s not something where you sit there and laugh and feathers are flying,” Williams told reporters. “It’s serious. It’s hardcore swinging with specialized pillows.”
Photo: Reuters
Although the male and female competitors in January’s event mostly hail from the cutthroat worlds of MMA and boxing, children will still sleep soundly after seeing the bouts.
“The only difference between our fights and MMA fights is that nobody gets hurt,” Williams said. “The fighters don’t like to get hurt, and there’s a lot of people who don’t want to see the blood. They want to see good competition, they just don’t want to see the violence.”
That so many people grew up bashing their siblings, friends and parents with pillows makes the sport relatable, which he hopes will help tap into a new audience.
Photo: Reuters
“You can call it an alternative sport, but we think it’s going to have mainstream appeal,” Williams said. “Think about how they mixed country music with rap music and brought these diverse audiences together. That’s what we’re doing, and we hope it brings in a different kind of viewer.”
The three-round bouts are to be available to view on sports streaming platform FITE.
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