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— Sherdog (@sherdogdotcom)
August 2, 2022

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those
of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of
Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company,
Evolve Media.

* * *

The
Professional Fighters League begins its 2022 playoffs on Friday
in New York, marking the fourth year the PFL will crown season
champions in a number of weight classes. This year shows promise on
two fronts. First, the venues are being upgraded, as the PFL runs
outside of the United States for the first time since changing its
name and format from the
World Series of Fighting. The crowds in London and Cardiff,
Wales, are likely to be enthusiastic and engaged to be getting PFL
for the first time. British fans have supported mixed martial arts
well beyond just the
Ultimate Fighting Championship, as the market has arguably been
Bellator
MMA’s strongest. The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden
rounds out the announced venues and has proven to be a strong
environment for PFL in the past.

Additionally, the PFL has had good fortune when it comes to the
fighters advancing in the tournaments. With its tournament format,
the promotion is at the mercy of the early results. In 2021, it
signed prominent free agents Fabricio
Werdum and Anthony
Pettis, only to see neither of them qualify for the playoffs.
This year, most of the PFL’s more prominent stars have advanced,
with the most notable exceptions being Jeremy
Stephens, Julia Budd
and Ray Cooper
III.

PFL 7 features the lightweight and light heavyweight
tournaments. The lightweights comprise the largest collection of
names, with three of the four competitors having fought in the UFC
over 10 times. Pettis is oddly the top seed despite his struggles
thus far in the PFL. He is only 1-3, but his win was a first-round
submission. That gave him the tiebreaker over Olivier
Aubin-Mercier and Alex
Martinez, who went 2-0 but won their bouts by decision.

Aubin-Mercier and Martinez will square off as the second and third
seeds, with the submission ace Aubin-Mercier the firm betting
favorite against the less-tested Martinez. Pettis’ bout as the No.
1 seed is a unique one, as he will rematch the fourth-seeded
Steven
Ray, who beat Pettis with an unusual body triangle submission
last time out. Pettis will have the chance for immediate revenge,
but a loss would be devastating given his recent struggles.

The light heavyweight Final Four lost a little bit of juice when
Antonio
Carlos Jr. had to pull out, as the Brazilian has been
impressive and undefeated since leaving the UFC. Omari
Akhmedov might end up wishing for Carlos Jr., however, as his
new opponent is Joshua
Silveira. An undefeated
American Top Team product, Silveira might have ended up in the
semifinals himself had he had two regular-season fights rather than
one. Top seed Rob
Wilkinson was dominant in technical knockout finishes of
Viktor
Pesta and Bruce Souto
and will be the decided favorite on the other side of the bracket
against Delan
Monte.

The welterweights and the heavyweights take the stage next week.
Rory
MacDonald will seek redemption as the top welterweight seed,
having lost his last fight and four of his last six. Having fought
professionally now for almost 17 years, there are questions about
whether his heart is still in it. He will need to be on his game.
His opponent is the unbeaten Magomed
Umalatov, who, despite being the No. 4 seed at 12-0, might be
the favorite to win the tournament. On the other side of the
bracket, Sadibou Sy
is one of only two fighters—Chris Wade is
the other—to make the PFL semifinals every season, but he has yet
to advance to a final. Carlos
Leal Miranda is in his way and has not lost in nearly eight
years.

In two weeks, the featherweight field is highlighted by Bubba
Jenkins’ quest for a defining MMA accomplishment. The amateur
wrestling great has had a successful MMA career but has fallen
short in his biggest fights. A $1 million championship would
vindicate his decade plus-long run. He will fight One
Championship and veteran
Ryoji
Kudo, who had a spectacular knockout in June to qualify for the
playoffs. On the other side of the bracket, the top-seeded Wade
returns to the playoffs after falling short in the final in 2021.
He takes on English star Brendan
Loughnane.

That leads to the women’s lightweight tournament, which has a
similar feel. Kayla
Harrison and Larissa
Pacheco are the prohibitive favorites to advance to the final.
Pacheco has been dominant in the PFL, going 6-0 with five
first-round stoppages when matched with opponents other than
Harrison. Unfortunately for Pacheco, she has lost all eight rounds
against Harrison in their two fights and will seek another five. It
has to be frustrating for Harrison to return to the same challenges
rather than having a new mountain to conquer, but she will be well
compensated for her effort. Pacheco has the top seed and will fight
Helena
Kolesnyk, who she knocked out in 2021. Harrison will get
Martina
Jindrova, who hasn’t lost in the PFL.