OFFICIAL: PFL San Antonio card is set as
[Fri, August 4th |#PFLPlayoffs
Featherweights and Light Heavyweights look to book their ticket to
the 2023
#PFLWorldChampionship 🏆💰
| 🎟️https://t.co/FD4ZBDPl3o] pic.twitter.com/GeZw1elvmX— PFL (@PFLMMA)
June 29, 2023
The first of the three Professional Fighters League playoffs events is
now on the books.
Advertisement
Per a release from the promotion on Thursday, it has populated its
Aug. 4 billing at the Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio,
Texas. Featherweights and light heavyweight semifinal matches are
slated atop the
PFL 7: 2023 Playoffs event, along with six additional
“showcase” bouts to prepare for future tournaments or even
potential Challenger Series slots. The company will then switch
gears after this playoff card for two shows in New York later in
the month.
Headlining the ESPN-based evening will be a 145-pound semifinal
between top seeded Bubba
Jenkins (21-6) and no. 4 seed Jesus
Pinedo (21-6-1) on one side of the featherweight bracket.
Jenkins is just one of three men in his weight category to win
twice this season, with a revenge decision over perennial playoff
competitor Chris Wade
followed by a consciousness-depriving rear-naked choke over
Sung
Bin Jo to claim nine points. Peru’s Pinedo just had his hand
raised once in 2023, but it came in the biggest possible moment as
he flattened former champ Brendan
Loughnane in 94 seconds.
The co-main attraction takes place at 205 pounds, as top-seeded
Joshua
Silveira (11-1) battles it out with fourth seed Ty Flores
(13-4). One of only three competitors this season to claim the
maximum 12 points thanks to two finishes in Round 1, Silveira
choked out Sam Kei and
followed it with a win over Delan Monte
when the Brazilian injured his knee at the 90-second mark. While
Flores also secured two victories this season, he did so by
decision, against Monte and Dan Spohn. The
latter came after he missed weight by 5.2 pounds and was deducted
one playoff point, but still made it in.
The other two semifinal pairings are as follows: Gabriel
Braga (11-0) vs. Movlid
Khaybulaev (21-0-1, 1 NC), where both featherweights sport
undefeated records and have a great deal to win or lose; and
Marthin
Hamlet (12-4) vs. Impa
Kasanganay (13-3), where the former notched two wins including
a finish along the way and the latter clawed his way into the
205-pound bracket after throttling Tim Caron for
a five-point clinching performance. Also, of note, the organization
has scheduled a pair of fights in its burgeoning women’s flyweight
category on the prelims.
PFL 7, 2023 Playoffs Lineup:
Bubba
Jenkins vs. Jesus
Pinedo – featherweight semifinal
Joshua
Silveira vs. Ty Flores –
light heavyweight semifinal
Gabriel
Braga vs. Movlid
Khaybulaev – featherweight semifinal
Marthin
Hamlet vs. Impa
Kasanganay – light heavyweight semifinal
Elvin
Espinoza vs. Keoni Diggs
– lightweight
Thad
Jean vs. Ali Omar –
welterweight
Desiree
Yanez vs. Lisa
Mauldin – women’s flyweight
Satoshi
Ishii vs. Danilo
Marques – heavyweight
Chelsea
Hackett vs. Ky Bennett –
women’s flyweight
Billy
Elekana vs. Chuck
Campbell – light heavyweight