Former PFL light heavyweight champion Antonio Carlos Junior steps into the new-look PFL World Tournament this weekend, after missing all of 2023 and floundering in 2024.
“Shoeface” went 1-1 last year and missed the post-season, after winning the PFL’s 205lb title and a million dollars in 2021. Since then, the former UFC standout has failed to reach the same heights, in part due to injury.
“I’m just excited to be back, to be fighting. I think 2024 was not my best year, but now I’m feeling great,” ACJ told media outlets during Tuesday’s PFL 4 media day. The event takes place this Thursday, and features quarterfinal action in the heavyweight and light heavyweight division.
“I had an injury on my knee. My meniscus was always coming out, so it was hard for me to train properly, it was for me to fight and perform the way I want to. This year I’m 100%, thank God for that.”
The tournament Antonio Carlos Junior returns to is very different from the “season” he won back in 2021. Back then, there was a points system. Now, it’s a single-elimination grand prix style tournament. Win or go home, basically. And elbows, long forbidden in the PFL, are back on the menu.
That has Carlos Junior enthused. “It’s great, especially for me who likes to work the ground n’ pound. I like to work on the ground. The elbow is a good weapon, I think you’re going to see me using that.”
Of course, ground n’ pound aside, ACJ is a BJJ kind of guy, and that remains key for him. “I’m always going to focus on my grappling, it’s my great weapon,” he admitted. “I have to mix it up using every aspect of the fight, the striking, Muay Thai, boxing and everything. But I always try to get to the ground and work on my jiu-jitsu. It’s my best weapon.”
And just who is the best grappler Antonio Carlos Junior himself has tangled with? Turns out that’s his friend and renowned BJJ expert Marcus Almeida, a.k.a. Buchecha.
Watch Antonio Carlos Junior’s full 2025 PFL 4 media day appearance above.
