Professional Fighters League (PFL) News

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.

Adam Martin - May 22, 2019

Heavyweight Josh Copeland is no longer part of the PFL roster. According to a report from TMZ, Copeland on Tuesday pleaded guilty in Colorado to felony second and third-degree assault in a domestic violence incident in which he allegedly struck his wife in the face during an argument. A previous TMZ report indicated police were called to the Copeland residence on February 2 when his wife told officers that her husband punched her in the face, leading to bruising and bleeding, which the officers noted. Copeland was arrested at the scene, and later posted bond.

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.

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.

Nolan King - March 21, 2019

The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is gearing up for its sophomore season, loading up its roster with faces both new and old. On Thursday afternoon, PFL announced its second batch of participants who will be entering the 2019 tournament via ESPN  as well as a promotional video.

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 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 28, 2019

On New Years, the Professional Fighters League (PFL) crowned the winners of its first-ever season. The winners in each division were handed world title belts and million-dollar checks. Yet in the opinion of Jon Fitch, who held the welterweight title when the PFL was still called World Series of Fighting, those checks might never clear. “I think those guys who won the tournament are going to be thinking about, ‘What happened to my million?” Fitch said backstage at Bellator 214 (via MMAjunkie). “I don’t have any faith that those guys are going to get paid their full amount.”

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

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 2, 2019

On New Years Eve, Sean O’Connell won a million dollars.  The 35-year-old UFC veteran earned this massive payday by bludgeoning an exhausted Vinny Magalhaes to a stoppage in the finals of the 2018 PFL light heavyweight season.

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.

Drake Riggs - November 8, 2018

In wake of his most recent loss that saw him suffer a broken arm in the PFL welterweight tournament quarter-finals, former UFC veteran Rick “The Horror” Story is calling it a career. The former top 10 UFC contender took to Twitter today to announce the news.

Chris Taylor - October 20, 2018

Ray Cooper lll dominated at tonight’s PFL 10 event in DC, scoring a pair of first-round TKO victories over opponents Jake Shields and Handesson Ferreira to advance to the tournaments welterweight championship. Cooper will now face fellow finalist Magomed Magomedkerimov, who defeated opponents Pavlo Kusch and then Bojan Velickovic at tonight’s event.