The first three
Professional Fighters League regular season events will feature
some high-profile pairings.
Advertisement
The league on Thursday announced the headliners and co-main events
for cards scheduled for April 1, April 7 and April 14. All three
events will take place at the Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas and air
live on ESPN and ESPN+.
PFL 1 on April 1 will feature a featherweight showdown between 2022
champion Brendan
Loughnane and former UFC bantamweight title challenger Marlon
Moraes. In the co-main event, defending light heavyweight
champion Rob
Wilkinson will welcome 24-time UFC veteran Thiago
Santos to the organization.
The following week, PFL 2 will be topped by a clash between 2022
heavyweight winner Ante Delija
and Yorgan De
Castro, a former UFC competitor who is coming off a victory
over Junior dos
Santos under the Eagle FC banner. In the co-feature, defending
lightweight queen Larissa
Pacheco will attempt to build on the momentum of her upset
victory against Kayla
Harrison when she meets former Bellator champ Julia Budd at
145 pounds.
Finally, PFL 3 will be headlined by a lightweight scrap pitting
2022 champion Olivier
Aubin-Mercier against prized free agent addition Shane
Burgos, who went 8-3 during his UFC tenure. The co-main event
will see reigning PFL welterweight king Sadibou Sy
lock horns with former Brave Combat Federation title holder
Jarrah
Al-Silawi.
“With all six of last year’s PFL World Champions returning to the
SmartCage, along with the league debuts of MMA stars Shane
Burgos and Thiago
Santos, fans across the world will see the best this sport has
to offer when the 2023 PFL Regular Season kicks off from Last Vegas
on April 1,” said PFL President of Fighter Operations Ray Sefo.