Women’s lightweight champion Larissa Pacheco will begin her question to capture a second title, at a new weight class, when the Professional Fighters League hosts this year’s PFL 2 card on April 7.
The event, which takes place at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada, will feature the opening bouts of the heavyweight and women’s featherweight regular seasons. The featherweight division is being brought in for the ladies his year, replacing lightweight, which to this point had been the only official female weight class featured in the PFL (this past weekend, a flyweight division was introduced on the Challenger Series).
Pacheco pulled off a shock upset against Kayla Harrison in last year’s PFL Championship, earning a decision win over the two-time champ, and moving their career series to 2-1 in favor of Harrison. The Olympian, however, will not take part in this year’s PFL season, instead moving to the PPV-focused “super fight” division.
Among those who will be in action, Pacheco faces former Bellator women’s featherweight champ Julia Budd, while ex-UFC standout Aspen Ladd takes on Olena Kolesnyk. Another former Bellator fighter, Amber Leibrock, faces Martina Jindrova.
On the heavyweight side, last year’s champion, Ante Delija of Croatia, is up against UFC alum Yorgan De Castro. De Castro has won his last three fights, including a bout against former UFC champ Junior Dos Santos under the Eagle FC banner that ended early after a JDS injury.
In other PFL news, Conor McGregor’s Proper No. 12 Whisky has signed on to sponsor the upcoming PFL Europe season. The mostly full PFL 2 card as announced on Monday can be found below.
Main Card (ESPN)
- Ante Delija vs. Yorgan De Castro
- Larissa Pacheco vs. Julia Budd
- Bruno Cappelozza vs. Matheus Scheffel
- Renan Ferreira vs. Rizvan Kuniev
Preliminary Card (ESPN+)
- Denis Goltsov vs. Michal Andryszak
- Martina Jindrova vs. Amber Leibrock
- Olena Kolesnyk vs. Aspen Ladd
- Marcelo Nunes vs. TBA
- Marina Mokhnatkina vs. Yoko Higashi
- Amanda Leve vs. Karolina Sobek
- Biaggio Ali-Walsh vs. TBA
