Latest news with #PFL2025WorldTournament
Forbes
17-04-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Donn Davis Talks 2025 PFL World Tournament Changes, Upsets And More
PFL (Professional Fighters League Europe) founder and president Donn Davis answers journalists ... More questions during the Professional Fighters League Europe (PFL) event at the Accor Arena in Paris, on March 7, 2024. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP) (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images) The Professional Fighters League is in the early stages of its 2025 World Tournament. This week, the promotion is in Orlando, Florida, for Week 3 of the tournament, which features the first-round matchups in the middleweight and lightweight divisions. Three former PFL tournament winners are involved in this week's event. PFL founder and chairman Donn Davis answered some questions about the current PFL Tournament ahead of Friday's event, which ESPN will carry live. The first two events of the 2025 PFL World Tournament took place on April 3 and April 11 at Universal Studios in Orlando. That site also hosts the upcoming April 18 event. Unlike the first two cards, which streamed on ESPN+, the PFL World Tournament 2025 3 fight card will be carried on ESPN proper while also streaming on ESPN+. ORLANDO, FL - APRIL 03: Jason Jackson celebrates after fighting against Andrey Koreshkov during the ... More first round of the PFL 2025 World Tournament at Universal Studios on April 3, 2025 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by) Davis told Forbes he is happy with the viewership numbers of this year's first two fight cards, "Yes, we're very pleased," said Davis. "Across our global media partners, digital platforms, we have seen a significant uptick from last season, and it shows that fans are responding to the fresh look of the PFL World Tournament and the stakes that surround each also have seen that MMA fans viewing habits are now heavily streaming-focused, and we are seeing growth there." In previous years, the PFL moved things around for its first-round events, hosting the fight cards in different cities. This year, the promotion decided to hold its first four events in the same location, Universal Studious in Orlando, Florida, before hitting the road for the future rounds of the tournament. "By holding the first round of our 2025 World Tournament at Universal Studios Florida, we've created a high-quality production environment to launch this historic change in our format," Davis said of staying in Florida for the first round. "This residency streamlines our logistics, enhances the global broadcast, and gives us a controlled setting that allows us to put on our best product." The decision to hold the first-round events in one location was not the only change the PFL made heading into the 2025 PFL World Tournament. One of the more attention-grabbing changes was the prize for winning the tournament went from $1 million to $500,000. "Let's be clear: $500,000 is still the highest tournament prize in MMA today," said Davis. "And in 2025, through the $20 million total prize pool, we're investing more broadly across fighter pay, including higher base purses and performance incentives. It's about creating sustainable careers. Our model puts more fighters in position to earn more, more often. That's real progress for the sport." The first two events of the year have seen upsets and weight misses, knocking some of the early betting favorites from the tournament; this is something the PFL has taken in stride and perhaps expected and even looked forward to in the case of the upsets. ORLANDO, FL - APRIL 11: Liz Carmouche speaks with Dan Hardy after defeating Ilara Joanne during the ... More first round of the PFL 2025 World Tournament at Universal Studios on April 11, 2025 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by) "This is the beauty and the brutality of a world tournament. You've got to make weight. You've got to win. No politics. No picking and choosing opponents. It's win or go home," said Davis. "While unfortunate, it also creates room for new stars to emerge and showcases the depth of global talent in our roster. That's what makes our format so compelling. You've already seen upsets also, like Ekaterina Shakalova from Ukraine, or Justin Wetzell, who was the biggest betting underdog I can remember. You never know what will happen." The 2025 PFL World Tournament 3 fight card takes place on Friday, April 18. We will have live results for both the prelims and main card. Prelims begin at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN+, while the ESPN main card starts at 7 p.m. ET. HOLLYWOOD, FLORIDA - AUGUST 16: Impa Kasanganay gestures after his light heavyweight fight against ... More Josh Silveira during the PFL 2024 Playoffs at Hard Rock Live in Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on August 16, 2024 in Hollywood, Florida. (Photo by) 2023 light heavyweight tournament winner and 2024 PFL 2105-pound tournament finalist Impa Kasanganay vs. former Bellator title middleweight title challenger Fabian Edwards headlines Friday's event. Also on the main card is the winner of the 2024 lightweight tournament, Gadzhi Rabadanov, who faces former UFC fighter Marc Diakiese. 2022 welterweight PFL tournament winner Sadibou Sy is also part of the main card. He faces Dalton Rosta.
Forbes
03-04-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
PFL 2025 World Tournament 1 Results: Winners And Losers
The 2025 PFL World Tournament 1 fight card takes place tonight, Thursday, April 3, at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. The Professional Fight League event features the opening round matchups in the welterweight and featherweight divisions. The headlining contest sees former Bellator welterweight world champ Jason Jackson facing off against Andrey Koreshkov, who is also an ex-Bellator 170-pound champion. Also on the card, 2021 PFL featherweight tournament winner Movlid Khaybulaev faces former Bellator featherweight title challenger Jeremy Kennedy. Below, we will have the 2025 PFL World Tournament 1 fight card results, reactions, winner and losers, video highlights, and more as they happen on fight night. The 2025 PFL tournament is different from past events. The previous iterations awarded the winner of each weight division with $1 million. This year, the tournament winners will earn $500,000. Another difference in 2025 is that the tournament is structured as a single-elimination bracketed event. In the past, fighters earned points in two regular-season bouts, with the highest point earners moving onto the playoffs. This year, eight fighters (and two alternates) have been seeded in a tournament bracket, with the winners moving on to the next round. Another change is that eight weight divisions are competing rather than six: heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, featherweight bantamweight, and women's flyweight. One of the more substantial changes is that all fights will now allow elbows. The first-round fights and semifinal fights will be three five-minute rounds, while the finals are five five-minute rounds. PFL World Championship 2024 Fight Card Results - Winners And Losers Magomed Umalatov, who was one of the betting favorites to win the welterweight tournament is out of the competition after he missed weight on Wednesday. Umalatov, who was a -330 betting favorite to beat Logan Storley in their opening round matchup, weighed in at 173.6 pounds for the welterweight bout. As a result, Joseph Luciano will face Storley in tonight's action. Umalatov was a finalist in last year's PFL welterweight tournament. He lost to Shamil Musaev in that matchup. Musaev knocked out Umalatov in the third round of that scrap. Welterweight First Round Bout: Jason Jackson vs. Andrey Koreshkov Featherweight First Round Bout: Jesus Pinedo vs. Adam Borics Welterweight First Round Bout: Joseph Luciano vs. Logan Storley Featherweight First Round Bout: Jeremy Kennedy vs. Movlid Khaybulaev Welterweight First Round Bout: Mukhamed Berkhamov vs. Thad Jean Featherweight First Round Bout: Gabriel Braga vs. Fred Dupras Welterweight First Round Bout: Giannis Bachar vs. Masayuki Kikuiri Featherweight First Round Bout: Nathan Kelly vs. Taekyun Kim Thursday, April 3, 2025 Prelims: 8:00 p.m. ET Main Card: 10:00 p.m. ET Universal Studio in Orlando, Florida Prelims: ESPN+ Main Card: ESPN2 and ESPN+ PFL 2025 World Tournament Full Schedule We will have everything you need to know about the 2025 PFL World Championship 1 fight card live on Thursday night, including results, reactions, winners and losers, video highlights and more.
Forbes
30-03-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
PFL 2025 World Tournament Full Schedule
The Professional Fighters League 2025 World Tournament is nearly upon us. The first card of the tournament, which runs from April 3 through August 21, takes place on Thursday night at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. That fight card features the first round of the featherweight and welterweight tournaments. Up for grabs this year is a prize pool of $20 million. Below, we look at the full schedule for the PFL 2025 World Tournament. The 2025 PFL tournament is different from past events. The previous iterations awarded the winner of each weight division with $1 million. This year, the tournament winners will earn $500,000. Another difference in 2025 is that the tournament is structured as a single-elimination bracketed event. In the past, fighters earned points in two regular-season bouts, with the highest point earners moving onto the playoffs. This year, eight fighters (and two alternates) have been seeded in a tournament bracket, with the winners moving on to the next round. Another change is that eight weight divisions are competing rather than six: heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, featherweight bantamweight, and women's flyweight. One of the more substantial changes is that all fights will now allow elbows. The first-round fights and semifinal fights will be three five-minute rounds, while the finals are five five-minute rounds. PFL World Championship 2024 Fight Card Results - Winners And Losers Semifinals ESPN+ will stream each event and the fight cards will also be broadcast on ESPN or ESPN2. Welterweight First Round Bout: Jason Jackson (18-5) vs. Andrey Koreshkov (28-5) Featherweight First Round Bout: Jesus Pinedo (23-6) vs. Adam Borics (19-2) Welterweight First Round Bout: Magomed Umalatov (17-1)vs. Logan Storley (16-3) Featherweight First Round Bout: Jeremy Kennedy (19-4)vs. Movlid Khaybulaev (21-0-1) Welterweight First Round Bout: Mukhamed Berkhamov (17-2)vs. Florim Zendeli (10-1-1) Featherweight First Round Bout: Gabriel Braga (15-2)vs. Yves Landu (21-9) Welterweight First Round Bout: Giannis Bachar (9-2)vs. Masayuki Kikuiri (10-2-1) Featherweight First Round Bout: Nathan Kelly (11-3) vs. Taekyun Kim (10-1) Welterweight Alternate Bout: Joseph Luciano (10-2) vs. Thad Jean (8-0) Featherweight Alternate Bout: Fred Dupras (8-1) vs. Nathan Ghareeb (10-3) Bantamweight First Round Bout: Magomed Magomedov (20-3)vs. Leandro Higo (23-6) Women's Flyweight First Round Bout: Taila Santos (24-4)vs. Juliana Velasquez (13-3) Bantamweight First Round Bout: Savarjon Khamidov (16-0)vs. Jake Hadley (11-4) Bantamweight First Round Bout: Ciaran Clarke (10-0)vs. Kasum Kasumov (16-1) Women's Flyweight First Round Bout: Liz Carmouche (22-8)vs. Ilara Joanna (12-9) Bantamweight First Round Bout: Ali Taleb (11-1)vs. Zebenzui Ruiz (12-3) Women's Flyweight First Round Bout: Kana Watanabe (13-3-1)vs. Jena Bishop (7-2) Women's Flyweight First Round Bout: Elora Dana (7-0) vs. Diana Avsaragova (6-1) Bantamweight AlternateBout: Francesco Nuzzi (10-1) vs. Matheus Mattos (14-3-1) Women's Flyweight Alternate Bout: Ekaterina Shakalova (8-2) vs. Saray Orozco (8-6) Middleweight First Round Bout: Impa Kasanganay (18-5) vs. Fabian Edwards (13-4) Lightweight First Round Bout: Alexander Shabliy (24-4) vs. Brent Primus (15-4-0, 1 NC) Lightweight First Round Bout: Gadzhi Rabadanov (24-4-2) vs. Marc Diakiese (18-7) Lightweight First Round Bout: Mads Burnell (20-6) vs. Jay-Jay Wilson (10-1) Middleweight First Round Bout: Sadibou Sy (17-8-2, 1 NC ) vs. Dalton Rosta (9-1) Middleweight First Round Bout: Josh Silveira (13-4) vs. Mike Shipman (17-4) Lightweight First Round Bout: Clay Collard (25-14) vs. Alfie Davis (17-4-1) Middleweight First Round Bout: Aaron Jeffery (15-5) vs. Murad Ramazanov (12-2) Middleweight Alternate Bout: Khalid Murtazaliev (17-3) vs. Jordan Newman (7-0) Lightweight Alternate Bout: Sergio Cossio (27-10-1) vs. Robert Watley (15-3) Light Heavyweight First Round Bout: Phil Davis (24-7, 1 NC) vs. Rob Wilkinson (19-3,1 NC) Heavyweight First Round Bout: Valentin Moldavsky (13-4) vs. Sergey Bilostenniy (13-3) Light Heavyweight First Round Bout: Antonio Carlos Jr (16-6, 2 NC)vs. Karl Moore (12-3) Light Heavyweight First Round Bout: Karl Albrektsson (14-6) vs. Simeon Powell (10-1) Heavyweight First Round Bout: Alexandr Romanov (18-3) vs. Tim Johnson (18-11) Heavyweight First Round Bout: Linton Vassell (25-10) vs. Oleg Popov (19-1) Light Heavyweight First Round Bout: Sullivan Cauley (6-1) vs. Marcelo Nunes (11-2) Heavyweight First Round Bout: Pouya Rahmani (4-0) vs. Abraham Bably (5-1) Light Heavyweight Alternate Bout: Alex Polizzi (11-4) vs. Rafael Xavier (13-8) *Cards are subject to change We will have full coverage of the PFL 2025 World Tournament including event odds before the fights and live results and reactions on fight night.
