Orlando, FL — Welterweight Logan Storley advanced to the PFL World Tournament semifinals on Thursday, in a fight that saw him earn a unanimous decision win over the little-known Joseph Luciano.
Of course, Luciano wasn’t Storley’s original opponent. A high-profile match-up with Magomed Umalatov had been expected, only to be scrapped on weigh-in day when 2024 PFL finalist Umalatov missed weight.
That’s life in MMA, but often those sort of weight misses lead to bouts being cancelled entirely. Not in a grand prix-style tournament, however, where there are alternates at the ready.
“A change of opponent the day before obviously is a little different, but we were prepared to fight anybody. And so I think me and my team did a really good job of going back to the basics, drilling the essentials, and I think you saw it in there tonight,” noted Storley (17-3) following the bout, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. “Obviously I had a little change of plans the first few seconds in, but I’m happy with the effort. The effort was 100% tonight.”
Storley would later admit to being disappointed at the Umalatov fight falling through, not unlike many fans, who were primed to see a Bellator standout face off with a PFL veteran and tournament finalist.
“I was a little disappointed. I was excited for that fight, I think a lot of people were excited for that fight. I can’t change it, it’s a world tournament, and he missed weight. So it is what it is.” Asked about his familiarity with Luciano, “I didn’t know much about him,” added Storley. “We had about 24 to get ready, and we watched a few fights and kind of went from there, and just went to our game plan and got to our positions.”
Next up for Logan Storley is Masayuki Kikuiri, a Japanese fighter who battered Giannis Bachar to the point that he couldn’t answer the bell for the third round. “I saw a little bit of his fight, but I was worried about my fight at that time,” said Storley when asked about Kikuiri’s performance. He’ll now have some homework to do.
Down the line of course, there’s the possibility of facing American Top Team teammate Jason Jackson in the PFL World Tournament final. Jackson headlined the PFL 1 card on Thursday, submitting ex-Bellator champ Andrey Koreshkov.
Jackson has suggested things might be a little bit awkward in the gym. Storley downplayed that.
“Me and Jason have been training together for a long time. I would say we’re friends, and helped each other get ready for fights. At the end of the day, it’s competition. So like I said before this thing started, there’s two fights before we have to worry about that.” Well, one now, as Storley would point out. “There’s one more fight before I have to worry about that. For me, all I’m worried about is the semifinals, and we’ll go from there.”
Watch the full 2025 PFL 1 post-fight press conference with Logan Storley above.
