The second half of the Professional Fighters League’s 20224 season will get underway on June 13, with PFL 4 headlined by heavyweights Valentin Moldavsky and Linton Vassell.
That’s a fight fans easily could have seen under the Bellator MMA banner, and in fact, they have. Twice.
Prior to the PFL purchasing Bellator late last year, Moldavsky (13-3, 1NC) earned a decision win over Vassell (23-9, 1NC) at Bellator 218 in 2019. England’s Vassell then evened the series 1-1, knocking out Moldavsky at Bellator 292 in March 2023.
Moldavsky, who trains under Fedor Emelianenko, picked up a TKO finish of a former PFL champ in Ante Delija at this year’s PFL 1 card, giving him six points and leaving him ranked first overall in the division. Vassell, finished by Denis Goltsov, has no points, and sits in the #7 spot in the standings.
Also announced for PFL 4, Dakota Ditcheva will face Chelsea Hackett in the night’s co-main event. Ditcheva, a breakout star from PFL Europe, is #1 overall in the women’s flyweight season, with Hackett #7. However, the pairing sparked outcry from the likes of UFC star Angela Hill, who suggested that the “PFL is shaaaaady” after reportedly booking her teammate, Jena Bishop, against UFC vet Taila Santos. As it stands, Santos is #2 in the division, while Bishop is #3, meaning the seedings make little sense.
Heavyweight Daniel James, meanwhile, also took to social media (h/t Alex Behunin) to report that he’s facing Tyrell Fortune at PFL 4 on June 13. James and Fortune were supposed to meet at PFL 1, only for Marcelo Golm to replace Fortune, who did not fight that evening.
James questioned the logic of having Fortune, with no points, earning a shot at the #2 seed. “When you are a guy that [shouldn’t] be fighting and you get the opportunity to fight the number two guy in the tournament without even performing your first fight with no points, what gives you the audacity to think you can challenge me for a position in the tournament after all the guys on the card that night had busted their ass in?” he wrote in a social media post.
Later, he would add “I think the PFL organization is showing a lot of favoritism for guys that they want to push and I am not here to make friends with none of them. I am here to win and I am putting myself in a position to do so. They are putting me in a position where I have to make sure I win because they have their guys they want to try to pat on the back and pamper their way to the top but it’s all good.”
The PFL does not use a bracket format in their regular season, instead saving that for the playoff rounds. Much of the matchmaking has remained a mystery as a result.
Neither Bishop’s proposed bout with Santos, nor James’ fight with Fortune, have been officially announced by the PFL.
The 2024 PFL 4 card will take place at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT on June 13.
