• The PFL has released more details about its upcoming 2021 season.
• COVID-19 forced the PFL to postpone its 2020 season, but it returns with two events in April.
• The upcoming regular season events take place inside a bubble in Atlantic City's Ocean Casino Resort.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

The PFL has released more details about its upcoming 2021 season, announcing that a pair of events it will host in April will be held inside a bubble environment at the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City.

Unlike other mixed martial arts promotion, the PFL holds a regular season, a playoffs, and a finals that are akin to traditional North American sports like basketball and football.

By contrast, the market-leading UFC — which PFL hopes to one day rival — makes individual matches in a multi-fight card where winners are propelled higher in divisional rankings until they, one day, compete in championship bouts.

The PFL has held two seasons so far, in 2018 and 2019, but had to postpone its 2020 schedule because of the coronavirus pandemic.

It restarts its live event business on April 23 with a nine-bout bill topped by a lightweight match between the former UFC champion Anthony Pettis and boxing cult hero Clay Collard.

A 10-bout card on April 29 features the former Bellator MMA champion Rory MacDonald in his PFL debut against David Michaud in a main event.

Former PFL $1 million prize-winners Ray Cooper, Emiliano Sordi, and Magomed Magomedkerimov also compete on April 29 in separate bouts.

Rory MacDonald. Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

These events — together with future, unannounced regular season events — land on Atlantic City's famed Boardwalk, inside the $200 million Ocean Casino Resort's Ovation Hall venue which would hold, in non-COVID times, 5,000 people.

According to a company statement give to Insider, the regular season events will take place behind-closed-doors with no fans in attendance.

The PFL's bubble environment includes coronavirus protocols like daily testing, mandatory mask-wearing, and social distancing.

"We've been riding an incredible wave of momentum in the lead-up to our return, and the wait is almost over," said PFL CEO Peter Murray.

The events will be broadcast on ESPN in the US.