There’s been a major shake-up to the PFL’s first event of the 2022 post-season.
On Friday, league officials announced that defending 205lb champion Antonio Carlos Jr. was out of his PFL 7 semi-final fight with Omari Akhmedov. In his place will be Josh Silveira, the #5 ranked light heavyweight, who just missed the playoffs after winning his way into the PFL’s 2022 regular season as part of the Challenger Series earlier this year.
A highly touted prospect and former LFA double champ at middleweight and light heavyweight, Silveira (9-0) will be fighting an American Top Team teammate when he meets Akhmedov (23-7-1) in New York City on August 5. Silveira fought just once in the regular season, but earned six points for a first-round stoppage and is now just two fights away from a million dollars.
Akhmedov won both of his regular season fights this year, submitting Teodoras Aukštuolis and knocking out UFC alum Viktor Pesta.
The main event of PFL 7 in New York City on August 5, meanwhile, will see a rematch between Anthony Pettis and Stevie Ray. Pettis, who secured the #1 rank at lightweight thanks to a submission of Myles Price earlier this year, was submitted himself by Ray just weeks ago.
PFL 7 currently consists of the following announced bouts:
- Cory Hendricks vs. Marthin Hamlet
- Marcelo Nunes vs. Adam Keresh
- Brahyan Zurcher vs. Ricardo Jimenez
- Elvin Espinosa vs. Corey Jackson
- Anthony Pettis vs. Stevie Ray
- Omari Akhmedov vs. Josh Silveira
- Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Alexander Martinez
- Robert Wilkinson vs. Delan Monte
- Alexei Pergande vs. Elvis Lebron
- Lucas Barbosa vs. TBA
