𝘽𝘼𝙉𝙂𝙀𝙍 𝘼𝙇𝙀𝙍𝙏! 🚨
🏴 Gavin Hughes 🆚 Claudio Pacella 🇮🇹
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Gavin Hughes joins the PFL Europe Lightweight Roster after a long
history competing at the highest level of the sport, including
stints with Bellator and EFC. With ten stoppage victories on his
record, Hughes… pic.twitter.com/JV67IoDmSm
— PFL Europe (@PFLEurope)
March 14, 2025
The Hughes family name—no relation—will be well-represented in the
Professional Fighters League’s first Europe
card this year.
Per a release from the organization on Friday, the entirety of the
eight-man 155-pound bracket has been revealed. The four lightweight
matches plus one more at the division in a non-tournament
headliner, will play out at
PFL Europe 1 on May 10 inside of the SSE Arena in Belfast,
Northern Ireland. Paul
Hughes, Connor
Hughes and Gavin
Hughes will be among the participants, of which they are not
closely related.
The main attraction of this fight card will be a 155-pound scrap
pitting former title challenger P. Hughes against Bruno
Miranda, likely with major stakes in the PFL’s non-tourney
landscape. The first of four matches in the grand prix, one that
will conclude later this year, will see Decky McAleenan (9-5-1)
take on Gino van
Steenis (5-1). The former built himself up on the Cage Warriors Fighting Championship roster over
the last five years, while the latter unsuccessfully tested the
KSW waters last year.
In additional tournament tilts, Claudio
Pacella (5-2) will come to blows with G. Hughes (11-4). Italy’s
Pacella will be returning to the promotion after a fairly
successful 2024 campaign, where he qualified for the tournament by
defeating Oscar
Ownsworth and Mark Ewen.
“Big Tasty” briefly surfed the Bellator MMA seas, with all three of his outings there
ending inside the distance. Additionally, Ewen (6-1) has reached
the tourney despite his setback to G. Hughes in 2024, where he will
be squaring off against previous tournament veteran Aleksandrs
Chizovs (10-3). Even though Ewen suffered his first pro loss
last year, a tapout of Yassin
Chtatou to bounce back to the win column propelled him into
this high-stakes affair. Meanwhile, Latvia native Chizovs is hoping
that the third time is the charm, after coming up short in 2023 and
2024 to Acoidan
Duque and Daniele
Scatizzi, respectively.
Finally, 2024 lightweight finalist C. Hughes (10-2) is back and
looking for vengeance, and he will be meeting Sebastian Di Franco
(10-3) in the opening round. Hughes bested two foes in 2024 to get
to the last match of the bracket, only to suffer a stoppage loss in
the championship rounds to Jakub
Kaszuba. His adversary Di Franci will be debuting in the league
coming off a loss, while alternating wins and defeats in his last
four.
This is one of two divisions that PFL Europe will be running this
year, with men in the bantamweight division still be announced for
this fight card on May 10. This is a shift from the previous
seasons that held four divisions of 135, 155, 205 and women’s 125
pounds. The victor of each bracket later this year will be crowned
the tournament champion, while receiving a tourney belt and a
$100,000 check. Also, the winner may be eligible to join the next
year’s global season.