Kayla Harrison and TUF/UFC veteran Ramsey Nijem were among the talents taking part in the open workouts ahead of PFL 2 in Chicago.
PFL 2 goes down Thursday night in Chicago, IL, and Cageside Press will be on hand throughout the week to bring you live coverage of all the action. At Tuesday’s open workouts, a trio of fighters put on a display for the fans, with Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison, former UFC fighter Ramsey Nijem, and Pride veteran Luiz Firmino all taking part.
For Harrison, who won gold in Judo the 2012 and 2016 Olympic games, PFL 2 will mark her professional MMA debut. Signing with the then-WSOF in 2016, snagging Harrison was quite a coup for the organization that would become the Professional Fighters League. Working at first as an on-air personality, the former training partner of Ronda Rousey is expected to do big things in the sport, at least once she gets a few fights under her belt.
Opposite Harrison (0-0) in the cage on Thursday will be Brittney Elkin (3-4). Elkin will enter the night off a loss to Amanda Bell at Bellator 181 last July. However, despite the losing record and lengthy layoff, Elkin will obviously hold the edge in experience on Thursday, at least in the MMA realm.
Taking on ‘Ill’ Will Brooks in the lightweight tournament will be Pride and World Series of Fighting veteran Luiz Firmino. A.k.a. Luiz Buscape, Firmino (20-8) enters the night off a win over Eddy Ellis that snapped a two-fight skid including a loss to Justin Gaethje.
Brooks (18-4), meanwhile, has lost three straight, all under the UFC banner. The former Bellator lightweight champion struggled during his UFC run, earning just a single win across a four fight tenure.
Brooks vs. Firmino will serve as PFL 2’s main event.
Also appearing at PFL 2 on Thursday at The Chicago Theater will be former UFC fighter Ramsey Nijem. Nijem (9-6) was a finalist on The Ultimate Fighter Season 13, losing to Tony Ferguson. He would spend the next few years in the promotion, going 5-5 overall.
Nijem then took another shot at making it in the UFC, appearing on The Ultimate Fighter 25: Redemption only to be eliminated in the quarter-finals.
PFL 2 takes place Thursday, June 21 at the Chicago Theater in Chicago, IL. The event airs live on NBC SN in the U.S., following early action on Facebook (international viewers can watch the full card via Facebook).
