Professional Fighters League (PFL) News

Mike Heck - August 6, 2019

Kayla Harrison is not intimidated by Cris Cyborg, or the thought that the former UFC women’s featherweight champion may grace the Professional Fighters League with her presence. As a matter of fact, Harrison looks to welcome that challenge with open arms.

Fernando Quiles - July 1, 2019

Kayla Harrison is considered to be the most popular star in PFL and Sarah Kaufman believes there is some special treatment going on. Harrison is a judo Olympic gold medalist, who has made the transition to mixed martial arts. She is 4-0 in her young professional mixed martial arts career. Harrison will go one-on-one with Morgan Frier at PFL 4 Season 2 on July 11, while Kaufman takes on Roberta Samad.

Cole Shelton - May 23, 2019

UFC veteran Jeremy Kennedy is set to make his PFL debut tonight when he takes on Luis Rafael after his initial opponent was pulled for missing weight. However, the opponent change isn’t impacting Kennedy, who is no doubt ready to fight and win all the same. This will be Kennedy’s first time competing in a tournament format. The 26-year-old is excited about the matchmaking integrity the tournament format ensures. He can let his fighting do the talking.

Tom Taylor - May 23, 2019

Last year, Lance Palmer took his impressive MMA career to new heights, winning the featherweight playoffs in the Professional Fighters League (PFL) and earning a gold belt and $1M prize for his efforts. This season, he’ll look to accomplish the same feat with a new team behind him. Ahead of his first PFL bout of the season, which will pit him against Alex Gilpin this very evening, Palmer has relocated to New Jersey where he is training under renowned coach Mark Henry.

Tom Taylor - May 10, 2019

On Thursday night, the Professional Fighters League (PFL) returned to our screens with the first instalment of its anticipated season. This PFL 1 card featured a number of high-profile bouts in the compelling PFL women’s lightweight and men’s welterweight divisions. In the PFL 1 main event, promotional golden child Kayla Harrison picked up the biggest victory of her career, defeating the experienced Larissa Pachecho via unanimous decision, picking up three points in the process.

Drake Riggs - May 7, 2019

When it comes to Judo players in MMA, there is no one better right now than PFL lightweight, Kayla Harrison. The undefeated 3-0 American Top Team product is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and her dominance has so far carried over to the MMA world with great effect.

Drake Riggs - April 3, 2019

On February 26, 2010, Sarah Kaufman became the first ever Strikeforce bantamweight champion when she defeated Takayo Hashi via unanimous decision. The champion would defend her title once against future top flyweight, Roxanne Modafferi before dropping it to Dutch pioneer, Marloes Coenen.

Nolan King - April 1, 2019

Monday morning, the PFL announced the final roster additions to their sophomore season via ESPN. Making the final cut were twenty lucky combatants from all over the globe. Notable names include returning PFL veterans Ronny Markes and Francimar Barroso, UFC veterans Jeremy Kennedy, Glaico Franca, Ronys Torres, and Damon Jackson, as well as fan-favorite Contender Series veteran Chris Curtis.

Tom Taylor - March 8, 2019

The Professional Fighters League (PFL) has officially announced the roster for its women’s lightweight division. The league announced this news on its official website early on Friday afternoon.

Tom Taylor - February 25, 2019

The UFC now has some company on ESPN, as the Professional Fighters League (PFL) has inked a two-year deal with the network. This news was first reported by Farah Hannoun on Twitter and subsequently confirmed by PFL CEO Peter Murray on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on Monday afternoon.

Tom Taylor - February 12, 2019

The Professional Fighters League (PFL) has indefinitely suspended heavyweight fighter Josh Copeland following his recent arrest, which stemmed from a domestic violence incident in early February. The PFL issued a statement on the Josh Copeland situation on Monday evening (via MMA Fighting).

Tom Taylor - February 11, 2019

According to a report from TMZ, PFL heavyweight contender Josh Copeland has been arrested for allegedly assaulting his wife in front of their child. Per a police report obtained by TMZ, law enforcement in Adams County, Colorado received a call about an attack and rushed to the couple’s home on Feb. 2. When officers arrived at the scene, Copeland’s wife had “an obvious bruise on her left eye, a cut and was bleeding. There was blood down the front of her face and neck.”

Tom Taylor - January 17, 2019

Last night, new UFC featherweight champ Amanda Nunes stated — apparently jokingly — that she is done with the featherweight division. Nunes followed this announcement by suggesting that Cris Cyborg, the woman she knocked out to win the UFC featherweight belt, fight lightweight prospect Kayla Harrison. Sorry Cristiane but I’m done with 145. My Goal was to be a double champ. But, now I can help you build the division. I got someone for you @Judo_Kayla is a true 145er

Mike Straus - January 8, 2019

Few fighters entered the inaugural season of the Professional Fighters League (PFL) with better name recognition than Lance Palmer. Palmer, a former Team Alpha Male fighter, has been a champion before. ‘The Party’ is a former two-time World Series of Fighting (WSOF) featherweight champion, Resurrection Fighting Alliance (RFA) 145-pound king, and now the PFL season one champ is a million dollars richer.

Tom Taylor - January 4, 2019

Sean O’Connell has two black eyes and a couple of scrapes criss-crossing his face. For now, The Salt Lake City resident still has the mug of a prizefighter, but as of a few days ago, he isn’t one. O’Connell ended his fighting career on New Years Eve, moments after he thumped Vinny Magalhaes to win the Professional Fighters League (PFL) light heavyweight title and a million-dollar prize.

Tom Taylor - January 4, 2019

Rising PFL star Kayla Harrison is often compared to fellow Olympic judoka Ronda Rousey. Yet she says one of the main differences between her and Rousey is that she actually wants to fight Cris Cyborg. “That’s always been the difference between me and Ronda Rousey,” Harrison told ESPN recently. “She never wanted to fight Cyborg. I was always like, ‘I can’t wait to fight Cyborg.’

Tom Taylor - January 1, 2019

On New Years Eve, in front of a jampacked crowd at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, the Professional Fighters League (PFL) crowned inaugural champions in the welterweight, heavyweight, light heavyweight, lightweight, featherweight and middleweight divisions at the 2018 Championship. Each PFL winner claimed their respective titles after a two-month playoff, earning a $1M prize. “We are thrilled to have six deserving champions earn their titles and an unprecedented $1M in front of a great New York crowd on New Years’ Eve,” said League President Carlos Silva. “Each of them fought their way through the grueling playoff system to come out as champions in their respective brackets. We’re looking forward to what 2019 holds as our inaugural season proved that the PFL’s unique format works and promotes enticing matchups culminating in one champion.” Chicago native and 2-seed Louis Taylor scored the first victory of the night via TKO against 1-seed Abus Magomedov with a vicious left hook, 33 seconds into the first round to claim the middleweight title. 2-seed Lance Palmer remained undefeated during the 2018 PFL season and took home the featherweight crown by defeating fellow American and 1-seed Steven Siler by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-43, 49-46). In a thrilling bout, Brazilian Natan Schulte became the first No. 1-seed to win his weight class, outlasting Russian Rashid Magomedov by unanimous decision (48-46, 48-46, 48-46) to win the lightweight title. 6-seed American Sean O’Connell scored the biggest upset of the night, shocking 1-seed Vinny Magalhaes by TKO (corner stoppage) after the third round. After claiming the PFL light heavyweight title and $1M prize, O’Connell announced his retirement from fighting. Brazilian Philipe Lins finished the 2018 PFL season unbeaten by dominating Josh Copeland to claim the heavyweight crown. Lins won via TKO (referee stoppage) at 33 seconds of the fourth round. To cap off the night, Russian Magomed Magomedkerimov upset 1-seed Ray Cooper by submission (guillotine choke) at 2:18 of the second round to claim the welterweight crown. “This was a great night for the PFL and the sport of MMA,” said PFL President of Fighting Operations Ray Sefo. “Our six champions earned everything they got tonight. They worked hard all year long and I am happy for them and even more excited to get started on the 2019 season.” To round out the exhilarating evening of Championship fights, two-time Olympic judo gold medalist Kayla Harrison remained undefeated in her MMA career by defeating Moriel Charneski by TKO (referee stoppage) at 3:39 of the first round of a special featured fight. What was your favorite moment of this debut PFL season?

Cole Shelton - November 29, 2018

The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is about to finish their first season on New Year’s Eve. PFL decided to take MMA back to where it started by doing a tournament format. The tournament was structured like most other professional sports leagues, with a regular season, playoffs and then the finals. Ray Cooper III took part in the PFL’s first season and will be taking on Magomed Magomedkerimov in the welterweight final for the $1 million prize money. Ultimately, the first season of PFL can be chalked up as a success. It brought a fresh new feel to MMA. As well, fighters didn’t have to call for their title shots, rather simply earn them. That is something that intrigued Cooper III to take part in the PFL.