Tag Archives: Rob Wilkinson

Marlon Moraes to Fight Brendan Loughnane to Help Kick Off PFL’s 2023 Regular Season

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Marlon Moraes will be reporting for kick off duty with the Professional Fighters League.

The 34-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist and former UFC title challenger (23-11-1) will fight Brendan Loughnane (26-4) in April to open the PFL‘s 2023 regular season.

Marlon MoraesThe season will launch with a three-week series of events at Virgin Hotel in Las Vegas.

The season encompasses six weight classes: heavyweight, light heavyweight, welterweight, lightweight, featherweight and women’s featherweight.

The first round of season matchups will take place across three events scheduled on April 1, 7 and 14.

All three main and co-main slots feature the PFL’s returning 2022 champion.

The featherweight bout between Loughnane and Moraes will headline the first event. In the co-main event, Rob Wilkinson (17-2) will meet another former UFC title challenger in Thiago Santos (22-11).

On April 7, heavyweight Ante Delija (23-5) will meet Yorgan De Castro (9-3). Larissa Pacheco (19-4), who upset two-time women’s lightweight champion Kayla Harrison in the 2022 finals, will take on former Bellator MMA champion Julia Budd (16-5) in the new women’s featherweight division.

Capping off the first round on April 14, lightweight Olivier Aubin-Mercier (17-5) will take on free agent acquisition Shane Burgos (15-3). Welterweight Sadibou Sy (13-6-2) will face Jarrah Al-Silawi (18-4).

The PFL is the only major MMA promotion to follow a regular-season format, which includes single-elimination playoffs and finals. Additionally, the PFL hosts its Challengers Series for up-and-coming prospects and a recently announced pay-per-view division, which includes professional boxer Jake Paul.

Antonio Carlos Jr. Earns No. 3 Seed in Professional Fighters League’s Light Heavyweight Playoffs

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Antonio Carlos Jr. is playoff bound…

The 32-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist (15-5) has earned a spot in the Professional Fighters League’s light heavyweight division playoffs.

Antonio Carlos Jr. Carlos, the 2021 champion, secured the No. 3 seed, with a decision win over Bruce Souto at PFL 4 on Friday.

He’ll face No. 2 seed Omari Akhmedov (23-7), who was a standout of the regular season.

Akhmedov knocked out Viktor Pesta in the regular-season opener and submitted Teodoras Aukstuolis in the second round on Friday.

Rob Wilkinson (15-2), of Australia, claimed the No. 1 seed with a first-round knockout of Pesta. He will meet Delan Monte (9-2), who snuck into the playoffs with a 1:32 knockout upset of 2019 champion Emiliano Sordi. Three of the four light heavyweights bound for the playoffs — Carlos, Akhmedov and Wilkinson — have competed previously in the UFC.

At lightweight, history repeated itself for fan favorite Clay Collard (21-10), who failed to make the playoffs for a second consecutive year thanks to a split decision loss to Alex Martinez. Collard came up just short of the 2021 playoffs, when he lost a controversial decision to eventual champion Raush Manfio. Collard disagreed with the scores and vowed to win the lightweight championship this year.

The bout between Collard and Martinez (10-2) was incredibly entertaining. Collard set a high pace on the feet, as he always does. He knocked Martinez down in the second round with a left hook and worked the body with effective combinations. Martinez took his back in the second round, however, and threatened with a choke. He won some grappling exchanges in a close, back-and-forth third round.

Former UFC champion Anthony Pettis currently leads the lightweight standings with six points. He’s scheduled for his second regular-season bout later this month. Pettis is already guaranteed a spot in the 2022 playoffs.

Meanwhile, Martinez and Olivier Aubin-Mercier each punched their ticket to the playoffs. The fourth spot will either go to Jeremy Stephens or Stevie Ray.

The other weight classes will settle into their playoff matchups in the coming weeks, including heavyweight, featherweight, welterweight and women’s lightweight.