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Following a historic 2022 regular season, the Professional Fighters League (PFL) heads into its playoff round, which will see the four best fighters from each of the promotion’s six weight classes battle it out for a spot in the finals and a shot at becoming a world champion.
The 2022 PFL playoffs kick off on Friday, August 5 in New York City before heading across the pond to the United Kingdom for the first time in league history, wherein it will host shows on back-to-back weekends to round out its postseason schedule.
Before the playoffs get underway, let’s check out who’ll be competing in each of the six semifinal brackets and when they’ll be fighting.
PFL Playoff 1: Lightweights and Light Heavyweights (August 5)
Lightweight Bracket:
#1 Anthony Pettis vs. #4 Stevie Ray
#2 Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. #3 Alexander Martinez
Light Heavyweight Bracket:
#1 Rob Wilkinson vs. #4 Delan Monte
#2 Omari Akhmedov vs. #5 Josh Silveria
The postseason begins with PFL Playoffs 1 on Friday at the Hulu Theater in New York City, which features semifinal matchups in the lightweight and light heavyweight divisions.
At 155 pounds, top-seeded Anthony Pettis meets Stevie Ray in a must-see rematch of their PFL 5 encounter that saw the latter pull off a massive upset submission win.
The other side of the bracket will pit Olivier Aubin-Mercier against Alexander Martinez.
In the light heavyweight division, Rob Wilkinson locks horns with Delan Monte. Meanwhile, Omari Akhmedov faces Josh Silveria, who steps in for the injured reigning champion Antonio Carlos Jr.
Anthony Pettis
Photo: PFL photo
PFL Playoff 2: Welterweights and Heavyweights (August 13)
Welterweight Bracket:
#1 Rory MacDonald vs. #4 Magomed Umalatov
#2 Sadibou Sy vs. #3 Carlos Leal
Heavyweight Bracket:
#1 Denis Goltsov vs. #5 Matheus Scheffel
#2 Ante Delija vs. #3 Renan Ferreira
The organization’s first show in the United Kingdom will be PFL Playoff 2 on August 13th at the Cardiff Motorpoint Arena in Wales with semifinal bouts at welterweight and heavyweight being the main highlight.
Former Bellator welterweight titleholder Rory MacDonald continues his quest for a PFL championship when he collides with Magomed Umalatov, while Sadibou Sy competes in his fourth PFL postseason opposite highly-touted newcomer Carlos Leal.
On the other hand, Denis Goltsov leads the cast of heavyweights as he takes on fifth-seed Matheus Scheffel, who fills in for injured division kingpin Bruno Cappelozza.
Furthermore, Ante Delija completes the heavyweight playoff picture by sharing the cage with the heavy-handed Renan Ferreira.
Rory MacDonald searches for an opening.
Photo: PFL
PFL Playoff 3: Women’s Lightweights and Featherweights (August 20)
Women’s Lightweight Bracket:
#1 Larissa Pacheco vs. #4 Olena Kolesnyk
#2 Kayla Harrison vs. #3 Martina Jindrova
Featherweight Bracket:
#1 Chris Wade vs. #4 Brendan Loughnane
#2 Ryoji Kudo vs. #3 Bubba Jenkins
The final stop before the world championship round later this year lands at the Copper Box Arena in London, England for PFL Playoff 3, giving the spotlight to semifinal duels in the women’s lightweight and featherweight divisions.
The women’s lightweight semifinals will see Larissa Pacheco battle Olena Kolesnyk, while Kayla Harrison targets her third-straight PFL title when she dukes it out with Martina Jindrova.
At 145 pounds, Chris Wade faces off with hometown hero Brendan Loughnane in a heated matchup.
Moreover, Japanese standout Ryoji Kudo aims to book a ticket to the finals by getting the upper hand versus ex-BRAVE CF featherweight champion Bubba Jenkins.
The 2022 PFL playoffs can be seen live in the United States on ESPN and ESPN+.
Chris Wade
Photo: PFL photo
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