The PFL will return to action this Saturday and it will feature a pair of bouts expected to propel the promotion forward at a crucial time.
At the top of the card, lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov will look to avenge the loss of his longtime teammate against 2025 World Tournament champion Alfie Davis. Many questions circle Nurmagomedov who will look to build on his two close victories over Irish sensation Paul Hughes. Once one of Bellator’s top prospects, Nurmagomedov has now matured into a top talent who could end up as one of the most sought after free agents on the market should he keep his undefeated record intact for the remaining pair of fights on his contract.
The final faceoff before everything goes down tomorrow in Dubai!
PFL Lightweight World Champion Usman Nurmagomedov clashes with 2025 PFL World Tournament Lightweight Champion @AlfieRDavis #RoadToDubai | Saturday, February 7th | Dubai, UAE | Prelims 9AM EST | Main Card 12PM EST… pic.twitter.com/V296YG6UDi
— PFL (@PFLMMA) February 6, 2026
Standing in his way is Davis who notched the victory of his career in completing the World Tournament last fall and reigning supreme. In the final, he bested the defending champion and Nurmagomedov’s teammate from the Abdoulmanap Nurmagomedov school in Dagestan: Gadzhi Rabadanov. But while he’s now in a more personal bout with the PFL’s first undisputed lightweight champion, he must show that it was no accident that he has reached this point.
In the co-main event, a pair of welterweights will final return to the cage with a chance to reintroduce themselves to the audience and set up a high profile bout later this year. In June of 2024, Ramazan Kuramagomedov bested former Bellator champion Jason Jackson to claim the rebranded Bellator Champions Series title. In November of the same year, Shamil Musaev went on to win the welterweight Grand Prix and become the second title holder for the promotion in the weight class. Neither man competed in 2025 under any of the brands the PFL has which led to questions about when the two would return. The matchup will test the more experienced Musaev against the slightly younger Kuramagomedov in a bout that will see two of the more complete talents that the promotion has to offer.
But that is only the first step. The winner is undoubtedly set to welcome 2025 World Tournament winner Thad Jean back sometime later this year. Jean was among the most visible athletes on the roster during his run and it is expected that his return fight in 2026 will be one of the bigger bouts for the company. Considering the championship experience behind both Musaev and Kuramagomedov, the bout with Jean will showcase some of the best elite talent that the company has been able to draft in recent years.
If there is one area where the PFL shines, it is finding talent that might otherwise not get the same opportunities so quickly in other promotions. On Saturday, two of Nurmagomedov’s teammates from the Abdoulmanap School will be in action on the prelims. The first is undefeated former Eagle FC bantamweight champion Renat Khavalov who meets Karate Combat veteran Edgars Skrivers in early action. The other fighter is another undefeated combatant in former UAE lightweight champion Amru Magomedov who meets Kolton Englund in the featured prelim of the night.
Speaking on the two, coach and UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov said “I don’t see many people in the world who can beat them…Maybe I can say one, two, maybe three guys can give them a hard time because I’ve been in this sport in general so many years. I was in professional sports since I was a kid, and even when I wasn’t competing, I saw so many champions, and these two guys I don’t think many people can even give them a hard time.” (h/t Red Corner MMA)
While there have not been many announcements made for the second quarter of the year, it is understandable that the PFL will want Saturday’s event in Dubai to set the tone for the promotion as they head toward their next key event in March and the rest of the year.
