The upcoming
Professional Fighters League tournament event has undergone a
few changes.
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The promotion announced Monday that Taila
Santos has withdrawn from a first-round flyweight pairing
against Juliana
Velasquez at
PFL World Tournament 2 on Friday at Universal Studios in
Orlando, Florida. As a result, Ekaterina
Shakalova will step in and face Velasquez in the 125-pound
bracket. Santos vs. Velasquez was slated to be the evening’s
featured bout; instead a bantameight tilt pitting Leandro
Higo against Josh
Rettinghouse will now serve as the main event. Saray
Orozco was originally supposed to face Shakalova, but it’s
currently unclear if she will receive a replacement opponent.
PFL Tournament 2 features tournament bouts at women’s flyweight and
men’s bantamweight. The prelims air on ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m.
PT, while the main card begins on ESPN2 and ESPN+ at 11 p.m. ET/8
p.m. PT.
Santos, a former
UFC title challenger at flyweight, reached the finals in the
old PFL season format in 2024, where she fell to Dakota
Ditcheva via second-round TKO on Nov. 29. She earned wins over
Ilara
Joanne, Jena Bishop
and Liz
Carmouche in her first three PFL appearances.
Shakalova, meanwhile, previously competed at featherweight, but
will drop to 125 pounds to face Velasquez. She had a seven-bout
winning streak snapped in a unanimous decision defeat to Aspen Ladd
at Bellator Champions Series Paris last May.
A former Bellator champion, Velasquez snapped a three-bout losing
streak with a second-round stoppage of Lisa
Mauldin at a PFL event last June.
Higo has won five of his last six outings, including a three-round
verdict over James
Gallagher in his most recent fight at Bellator Champions Series
Belfast in March 2024.
Rettinghouse notably fought for the
World Series of Fighting belt in March 2014, when he lost a
unanimous decision to Marlon
Moraes. The 35-year-old has been victorious in 10 of his last
11 professional bouts, which included a five-fight stint in M-1
Global.
It’s the fight game. Always changing. It’s
up to the fighters to adjust to new opponents. It’s up to US to
tell the story. @CoachandCo
https://t.co/nAJd2iApKk— The Coach (@Thecoachrules)
April 8, 2025