The second round of the 2023 PFL regular season is set to be underway on June 8 as the promotion announced the match-ups for the first card set to take place in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Professional Fighter’s League may be less than two weeks removed from their first round match-ups, but they are showing no sign of slowing down as the promotion announced their first set of match-ups for their upcoming card on June 8 to begin the second round.
Headlining the card will be defending featherweight champion Brendan Loughnane (27-4) against Peruvian product Jesus Pinedo (20-6-1). On the heels of his title winning victory last fall, Loughnane wasted little time in establishing himself in the 2023 as he dismantled former UFC title challenger Marlon Moraes in his season opener earlier this month. Pinedo enters the bout seeking his first victory under the PFL banner as he dropped a split-decision to Gabriel Alves Braga in his season opener. A UFC veteran who split a pair of fights in the Octagon between 2018 and 2019, Pinedo’s professional career has seen him largely compete in his native Peru to become one of the more experienced new faces in the 2023 season.
In the co-headliner, defending light heavyweight champion “Razor” Rob Wilkinson (18-2) take on Will Fleury (12-3) who looks to make a statement following a successful season opener earlier this month. Wilkinson kicked off the tournament with an assertive performance over UFC veteran Thiago Santos while Fleury was given the nod over new signee Krzysztof Jotko in a split-decision earlier on the main card. Notably, the two will potentially have a lot of ground to cover as they are tied with three points each. Fellow light heavyweights Marthin Hamlet and Josh Silveira have twice as many points with six which means that there is a scenario where Wilkinson and/or Fleury could get eliminated from the playoffs with a loss.
The card will also feature the aforementioned Thiago Santos (22-12) look to get his first PFL victory when he takes on Mohammed Fakhreddine (15-5) of Lebanon in a bout in which both men are in a must-win situation to keep their title hopes alive. In other marquee action, 2021 featherweight champion Movlid Khaybulaev (20-0-1) will continue his march towards the playoffs when he takes on former KSW champion Daniel Torres (14-6) who will need to pull off an epic upset to keep his own tournament hopes alive.
The card will also feature a pair of lightweight showcase bouts with Abigail Montes and Challenger Series veteran Alexei Pergande set to compete against yet to be announced opponents.
The full fight card is as follows:
ESPN Card:
- Brendan Loughnane vs. Jesus Pinedo
- Robert Wilkinson vs. Will Fleury
- Thiago Santos vs. Mohammed Fakhreddine
- Movlid Khaybulaev vs. Daniel Torres
- Marthin Hamlet vs. Sam Kei
ESPN+ Card:
- Joshua Silveria vs. Delan Monte
- Bubba Jenkins vs. Jo Sungbin
- Krzystof Jotko vs. Ty Flores
- Alejandro Flores vs. Marlon Moraes
- Chris Wade vs. Ryoji Kudo
- Abigail Montes vs. TBA Showcase
- Alexei Pergande vs. TBA Showcase
The June 8 event, PFL 4, as well as the subsequent events on the 16th and the 23rd are set to take place at the Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
