PROFESSIONAL FIGHTERS LEAGUE ANNOUNCES FINAL REGULAR SEASON MMA MATCHUPS FOR FEATHERWEIGHTS AND LIGHTWEIGHTS ON JUNE 10
NEW YORK (May 13, 2021) –The Professional Fighters League (PFL), the fastest growing and most innovative sports league, today announced its main event and full card matchups for PFL 4 on June 10 in primetime across ESPN networks and streaming platforms. Fighters across the featherweight and lightweight divisions will make their final push of the regular season to earn a spot in the playoffs, facing win-or-go-home scenarios.
Featured on the main card is former world champion and pre-season lightweight favorite Anthony Pettis, who looks to bounce back from an upset loss in his PFL debut and try to earn enough points to make the playoffs as he takes on undefeated fighter Alexander Martinez in a win-or-go-home duel. Pettis is the last lightweight fight of the night, so he will know exactly how many points he needs to make the playoffs when he steps into the cage. The young Paraguayan Martinez earned a win by split decision in his PFL debut at PFL 1 and will look to carry that momentum into the lightweight matchup against Pettis.
Coming off an impressive win, where he handed two-time PFL champion, Lance Palmer, his first loss in the PFL, Bubba Jenkins looks to continue his dominance against Anthony Dizy. Leveraging his underdog mentality, Jenkins will look to accumulate enough points to earn his spot in the playoffs, while Dizy will look to avenge a disappointing loss in his PFL debut on April 23. Two-time PFL champions Natan Schulte (lightweight) and Palmer (featherweight) are both in win-or-go-home scenarios in their attempts to three-peat as league champions come June 10.
Not to be overlooked, sitting atop the featherweight division standings, Brendan Loughnane looks to continue his impressive run as he takes on Tyler Diamond. Loughnane, who won both his 2019 showcase fights, started off his first official PFL season with a huge knockout performance against Sheymon Moraes and will have a chance to lock up the top seed in the division at PFL 4. Diamond returns after a spectacular unanimous decision win over Jo Sungbin at PFL 1. The Team Alpha Male product will be looking for a finish in hopes of securing enough points to lock himself into a playoff spot.
“There were some notable upsets in the first half of the season and our featherweight and lightweight fighters know this is their last chance to book their tickets to the playoffs,” said PFL President of Fighter Operations, Ray Sefo. “Every athlete has a chance at becoming a world champion and all fighters can still qualify for the PFL playoffs. With a win or go home scenario, this is what the PFL is all about.”
PFL 4 is the last chance for the featherweights and lightweights to earn a playoff spot during the PFL regular season. With six weight divisions (featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, light heavyweight, women’s lightweight, heavyweight) the top four fighters with the most points in each division will make the playoffs. In the playoffs, fighters compete to punch their ticket to the 2021 PFL world championship, the biggest night in MMA – 6 title fights in one night, the winner of each earns $1 million. 60 fighters started the season – only 24 will qualify for the playoffs.
The 2021 PFL Season continues on June 10 on ESPN2, ESPN3 (Spanish broadcast) and ESPN+ in primetime. The remaining Regular Season events will take place on June 17, and June 25.
Professional Fighters League has quickly established itself as the No. 2 MMA company in the world. The league has experienced tremendous YoY growth across digital channels – 68% follower increase on Instagram, 30% total audience growth across digital and a 200% social engagement spike. Domestic linear viewing audience was up 43% in 2019, and the Championship on New Year’s Eve surpassed 500,000 viewers, a 65% YoY increase.
Full Card:
ESPN2 Card
Anthony Pettis vs. Alex Martinez
Bubba Jenkins vs. Anthony Dizy
Brendan Loughnane vs. Tyler Diamond
ESPN+ Card
Clay Collard vs Joilton Lutterbach
Natan Schulte vs. Mikhail Odintsov
Lance Palmer vs. Lazar Stojadinovic
Marcin Held vs. Olivier Aubin-Mercier
Akhmed Aliev vs. Loik Radzhabov
Movlid Khaybulaev vs. Sheymon Moraes
Chris Wade vs Arman Ospanov
About Professional Fighters League
Professional Fighters League (PFL) is the first and only to present MMA in the sports-season format where individual fighters compete in Regular Season, Playoffs, and Championship. PFL is the innovation leader with the PFL SmartCage delivering viewers on-screen fight analytics and real-time prop bets. PFL Roster is second to none with 25% of its fighters ranked in the top 25 in their weight-class. All PFL 2021 Season events are live in primetime on ESPN2/ESPN+ in the U.S. (typically on Thursdays), as well as on leading broadcast and streaming outlets in 160 countries worldwide.
For more info visit www.PFLmma.com and follow PFL on Instagram (@PFLmma), Twitter (@PFLMMA), and Facebook (/PFLmma).
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