The 2024 PFL Playoffs continue on Friday night with the second of three semifinal events in the postseason, and MMA News has you covered with all the action! The Professional Fighters League is back this week, with the championship finals at light heavyweight and lightweight set to be be decided inside the Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, […]
The 2024 PFL Playoffs continue on Friday night with the second of three semifinal events in the postseason, and MMA News has you covered with all the action!
The Professional Fighters League is back this week, with the championship finals at light heavyweight and lightweight set to be be decided inside the Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida.
In the 205-pound main event, 2023 PFL kingpin Impa Kasanganay returns for the next step in his pursuit of back-to-back titles. And to reach a second consecutive final, “Tshilobo” must get again the better of his championship opponent from last year, Josh Silveira.
The winner of that contest will face either 2022 champ Robert Wilkinson or former Bellator fighter Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov with $1 million prize money and this year’s light heavyweight title on the line.
The lightweight bracket, meanwhile, includes Clay Collard’s attempt to make his second straight championship final and keep his hopes of a first title win alive. He’s tasked with getting past top seed Brent Primus, while Russia’s Gadzhi Rabadanov and Canada’s Michael Dufort will round out another international final four at 155 pounds.
Outside of semifinal action, notable names like Biaggio Ali Walsh and Danny Sabatello will also take to the SmartCage in “The Sunshine State.”
With tonight’s event underway, keep up with the live results below, followed by all the highlights as they come!
2024 PFL 8 Playoffs Results & Highlights
Main Card (9 PM ET, ESPN/ESPN+):
Light Heavyweight Semifinal Main Event: Impa Kasanganay vs. Josh Silveira
Light Heavyweight Semifinal Co-Main Event: Rob Wilkinson vs. Dovlet Yagshimuradov
Lightweight Semifinal: Gadzhi Rabadanov vs. Michael Dufort
Lightweight Semifinal: Brent Primus vs. Clay Collard
Lightweight: Biaggio Ali Walsh vs. Brian Stapleton
Preliminary Card:
Bantamweight: Danny Sabatello vs. Lazaro Dayron
Lightweight: Elvin Espinoza vs. Mads Burnell
Welterweight: Thad Jean vs. Chris Brown
Featherweight: Jordan Oliver def. Braydon Akeo via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
The next round of this year’s Professional Fighters League regular season took place tonight and MMA News will be right here to bring you the results and highlights! The headliner saw Clay Collard taking on Alexander Martinez. After the completion of the first go-around, the lightweights and light heavyweights returned for their sophomore outings of…
The next round of this year’s Professional Fighters League regular season took place tonight and MMA News will be right here to bring you the results and highlights!
The headliner saw Clay Collard taking on Alexander Martinez.
Opposite Collard was Alexander Martinez (9-2-1). The Paraguayan opened his 2022 PFL account with a unanimous decision victory over Stevie Ray last time out.
The other PFL 1 headliner, former UFC veteran Stephens (28-20-1), opened the PFL 4 main card against Raush Manfio.
You can peep some of the highlights below!
Jeremy Stephens def. Myles Price
Alexander Martinez def. Clay Collard
PFL 4 Quick Results
Check out the quick results from PFL 4 below!
Preliminary Card – 7PM ET/4PM PT (ESPN+)
Josh Silveira def. Marthin Hamlet via TKO (strikes): R1, 3:27
In March this year, the PFL pulled off what many did not expect. Kayla Harrison, arguably MMA’s biggest female star, was persuaded to remain with the promotion despite lucrative offers from both the UFC and Bellator. It was a watershed moment for the PFL, signaling its growing power within the MMA landscape and newfound ability…
In March this year, the PFL pulled off what many did not expect. Kayla Harrison, arguably MMA’s biggest female star, was persuaded to remain with the promotion despite lucrative offers from both the UFC and Bellator.
It was a watershed moment for the PFL, signaling its growing power within the MMA landscape and newfound ability to compete with the big boys. The promotion, which was established upon the ashes of the World Series of Fighting just five years ago, now appears to be on a growth trajectory that could see it soon surpass Bellator as the number two name in MMA.
But if you ask PFL CEO Peter Murray, it already has.
“By a number of metrics, we’re the number two,” he told The MMA Hour earlier this month.
Murray, a former high-ranking executive at the NFL and UFC owner Endeavour Group, believes the PFL’s combination of top talent and broadcast partnerships with the likes of ESPN now make it second only to the UFC.
“How I value it; number one, it’s the quality of the production,” he continued. “Two, caliber of fighters and exciting fights. Three, distribution.”
So, is Murray right in saying the PFL has now surpassed Bellator? And can it ever become as big as the UFC?
PFL Fighters Might Be Better Than You Think
Talent development, says Murray, is one of the key focus areas for the PFL. And the promotion’s strategy is to continually inject new talent into its roster.
“What I love about our format, the product’s fresh every year. Forty-five percent of the roster, new fighters,” said Murray on The MMA Hour. “One of the key KPI’s for us is, a minimum of 25 to 30 percent of the roster, to ensure that their rankings are in the top 25 in the sport.”
Perhaps the most notable inflow of talent has been from the UFC. And despite many considering the PFL a step down in competition, it’s not uncommon to see UFC fighters beaten by the promotion’s mainstays.
Former UFC featherweight Jeremy Stephens became the latest this month, losing to Clay Collard in what was an absolute war that surely converted many UFC fans to the PFL. It must be noted, however, that the 35-year-old Stephens is hardly in his prime, having been cut by the UFC after losing five of his last six fights.
But then there’s Anthony Pettis, who after defeating Donald Cerrone and Alex Morono in the UFC, has lost both of his fights since joining the PFL in 2021. Rory MacDonald, both a Bellator and UFC alum, has been similarly tested in the PFL. Additionally, former UFC-turned-PFL heavyweights Fabricio Werdum and Klidson Abreu have found it harder than expected to get their first win in the promotion.
The PFL Is Making Moves To Expand Its Fanbase and Talent Pool
One of the key strengths of the PFL over Bellator, and one that Murray highlights regularly, is the promotion’s distribution through the world’s biggest broadcasters.
In 2019, the PFL followed in the UFC’s footsteps by becoming a broadcast partner of ESPN. But while it’s yet to stage pay-per-view events, Murray says the PFL’s championship event this year will “100 percent” be a pay-per-view event. And next year, he says the pay-per-view structure will expand.
“Then we’ll launch a pay-per-view division in 2023 and we’re working on those details right now, including [signing] some fighters who are in our view and [are of] pay-per-view stature,” Murray told The MMA Hour.
But perhaps the biggest potential game-changer for the PFL is Challenger Series—the promotion’s answer to the UFC’s Contender Series, which launched this year. Like it’s UFC counterpart, the Challenger Series gives up-and-coming fighters the chance to compete for a PFL contract.
This means they have the chance to potentially make $1 million within a year, thanks to the generous compensation offered by the PFL’s seasonal tournament structure. For many, this is a refreshing change from the remuneration practices of the UFC, who are notorious for paying their new talent relative peanuts.
The Challenger Series hasn’t all gone to plan, however. Earlier this month, it was flagged for suspicious betting activity after the PFL announced that the final event of the series would be broadcast live, but was later discovered to be pre-recorded.
The PFL Aims To Capitalize On MMA’s Growing Popularity
Despite the PFL still lacking several divisions offered by the UFC and Bellator, including middleweight and bantamweight, the promotion seems to have all the ingredients to challenge the big boys. And while Murray believes the PFL has already surpassed Bellator, challenging the UFC’s near-monopolistic hold on the MMA market is another thing entirely.
But Murray believes the PFL will only continue to grow and prosper alongside the UFC, thanks to the ever-expanding global MMA fanbase.
“Our thesis and why we launched the PFL four years ago; there’s room for more than one leader in the sport,” he told The MMA Hour. “600 million fans. This is Nielson data; three years ago, 400 million fans. So, in three years’ time, you have fan growth around the world of 200 million. So, it’s the third-largest fan base in all of sports, behind soccer and basketball, it’s the fastest-growing, it’s the youngest of all major sports in terms of the fans, and half of this fan base is not watching stick and ball sports.”
Murray says that the PFL’s goal isn’t necessarily to steal fans away from the UFC. By having a tournament-based structure, the promotion is simply offering them a different experience and more fights.
“So [MMA fans are] underserved; they want access to more premium MMA content and fights,” said Murray. “For the PFL, that is simply our business thesis, we’re fulfilling that demand with a quality product, with great fighters, and a differentiated experience.”
Clay Collard is not resting on his laurels after his dominating victory over Anthony Pettis in his PFL debut. Collard sat down with Low Kick MMA and talked about his PFL debut and his upcoming fight against Joilton Lutterbach at PFL 4 on June 10th. Returning to MMA after some time in the boxing world, Collard admitted that […]
Clay Collard is not resting on his laurels after his dominating victory over Anthony Pettis in his PFL debut.
Collard sat down with Low Kick MMA and talked about his PFL debut and his upcoming fight against Joilton Lutterbach at PFL 4 on June 10th. Returning to MMA after some time in the boxing world, Collard admitted that a change in his mindset was key to starting his run at the PFL lightweight championship.
“I went from kind of just not taking a serious at one point, you know, I mean, I fought so hard and so long to get to the UFC. And then when I got to the UFC, it was like, I kinda lost track a while. Why I was doing it, you know? And so, just refocusing and getting back on track and deciding that this is what I wanted to do has been everything. Now it’s, you know, I think of it as a career and not just something I’m doing. So, and that was the mindset I didn’t have when I was younger. So, I’m focused, and I’m gonna take the world by storm.”
The change in mindset was visible in his debut. He dominated Pettis through three rounds and surprised many fans and pundits alike.
“Everybody else was counting me as the underdog, but I never see myself as the underdog. So, yeah, just keep counting me out. Cause I want to keep showing up proving them wrong.”
Going into his second PFL fight, Collard is no longer the underdog. As he finalizes preparations for his fight against Lutterbach, Collard keeps quiet about the new tricks we should plan to see. However, he knows that he will need to do to stay atop the PFL lightweight standings and get one step closer to the million-dollar prize.
“Right now a finish is, is something that will solidify my spot. And I don’t have to worry about if anybody else, you know, gets a first round knockout or not.”
“So right now, right now, it’s all about the finishing. And so I will definitely be looking to stop that fight 100% from, from right out the gate. I’m trying to put him away.”
Do you think Clay Collard will still be first in the standings after PFL 4?
Clay Collard picked up the biggest win of his career on Friday night at PFL 1. The talented boxer walked away from his fight with former UFC champion, Anthony Pettis, with a unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-28) victory. Collard dominated the majority of his fight against ‘Showtime’. The 28-year-old banked round one before turning up […]
Clay Collard picked up the biggest win of his career on Friday night at PFL 1.
The talented boxer walked away from his fight with former UFC champion, Anthony Pettis, with a unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-28) victory.
Collard dominated the majority of his fight against ‘Showtime’. The 28-year-old banked round one before turning up in heat in the second stanza. ‘Cassius’ dropped Pettis on multiple occasions and was unlucky to not find the finish.
Despite a hand injury, Collard continued to pour it on in round three. The tables turned at the midway point of the final frame as Pettis landed a big head kick and followed up with a flying knee. The former WEC and UFC champion tried to finish the fight but was caught up in Collard’s guard, unable to get off any more effective offence.
This represents Collard’s stretched his MMA winning streak to three.
Pettis snaps a two fight winning run and has now now lost three of his last five fights.
Anthony Pettis knows all eyes will be on him when the PFL kicks off their new season Friday. The former UFC lightweight champion will headline the first card of the new PFL season opposite Clay Collard on Friday. He knows that his resume makes him arguably the biggest star on the roster, which is sure […]
Anthony Pettis knows all eyes will be on him when the PFL kicks off their new season Friday.
The former UFC lightweight champion will headline the first card of the new PFL season opposite Clay Collard on Friday. He knows that his resume makes him arguably the biggest star on the roster, which is sure to draw attentions from both fans and fellow fighters. ‘Showtime’ wasn’t afraid to address the hype surrounding his name at the PFL media day. In fact, he’s even come to embrace it (H/T MMA Junkie).
“Just the resume I have puts a target on my back,” Pettis told reporters. “These guys know who I am and they have watched me in this sport, so I definitely have a target on my back.”
“I was the champion in every organization, so I’ve always had a target on my back,” Pettis continued. “I know what these guys are looking forward to. The scary part about it is that (Collard has) got nothing to lose. He can just go out there, bite on his mouth piece and go – and that’s what I’m not trying to get caught up in. It’s another fight. These guys, there’s some good talent in this organization, and I have to be sharp and on my game.”
Pettis ended his UFC career off the strength of back-to-back wins, and has remained a top contender ever since losing his title back in 2015. Despite all that he has accomplished, he believes he can still add to his legacy by winning the 2021 PFL season.
“My legacy is kind of already written, (but) I’m still going,” Pettis said. “I’m 34 years old. This camp was amazing. I felt so good. The structure and the motivation is everything that came along with this. Before, when I was up and coming, I wanted to be remembered as the guy who fought anyone, anywhere, any time while I was fighting at 145, 155 and 170.
“And now I have an opportunity to become a three-organization champion, and that can be done in a year. Im very exited about the opportunity that’s in front of me.”
Do you think Anthony Pettis is the favorite to win the 2021 PFL lightweight season?