On paper, thanks to five first round finishes in the 205lb division in April, light heavyweight looked ready to explode. Only four fighters could move to the post season, meaning someone with six points was set to be left on the outside, looking in. In the running to move forward were 2023 champ Impa Kasanganay, that year’s runner up in Josh Silveira, ex-champ Antonio Carlos Junior, ex-champ Rob Wilkinson, and Bellator import Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov.

On the lightweight side of things, Clay Collard headlined the show opposite Mads Burnell in a possible banger, while Patricky Pitbull looked to get on the board, and 155lb leader Michael Dufort looked to carry the torch for Canada in the PFL, after taking over for retired teammate Olivier Aubin-Mercier.

Due to a late withdrawal by Tom Breese, Andrew Sanchez was moved up the card into a fight with Sadibou Sy, with the announcement made just hours prior to showtime. That left Karl Albrektsson as the odd man out.

Where to Watch PFL 5

Friday, June 21, 2024 sees lightweights and light heavyweights in action at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The main card airs live on ESPN/ESPN+ in the U.S. following prelims found exclusively on ESPN+, while Canadian and European viewers can catch the action on DAZN. Full results from the event can be found below.

2024 PFL 5: Collard vs. Burnell Results

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Olivier Aubin-Mercier was the 2022 PFL lightweight champ, undefeated through seven fights since parting ways with the UFC in 2018. Anthony Romero was the man twice overlooked for a shot in the big show — first on Dana White’s Contender Series and earlier this year on the PFL Challenger Series. But after a spot in the season opened up due to injury, the 26-year old Romero now had the biggest opportunity of his career in front of him.

A polite touch of the gloves (very Canadian) was followed by Romero firing a kick to the body early in the PFL 6 main event. Romero would later go low with a kick, touching the lead leg of Aubin-Mercier, who had taken to holding center, keeping Romero on the fence. Less than 90 seconds in, and OAM appeared to hurt Romero with a right hook. Moments later, an uppercut landed for the champ, but Romero then clipped Aubin-Mercier with a kick!

Romero pressed forward then, with OAM hanging on in the clinch. They broke, and Romero would flash a front kick that missed the mark; Aubin-Mercier landed a right hook once again. It was clear that kicks were a heavy part of Romero’s gameplan, but in the back half of the round, Aubin-Mercier got his hands going, landing several heavy blows on his fellow Canadian.

Round two opened with Romero throwing up another high kick, blocked by Aubin-Mercier. OAM then fired a high kick in return, and a knee to the body moments later. Neither landed clean; OAM then ducked a big swing by Romero. With nothing to lose, Romero might be wise to hunt the knockout, given he needed points to have any hope of making the post-season. Instead, it was Aubin-Mercier finding more success on the feet, until an accidental clash of heads halted the action near the midway mark.

A brief reprieve, and they got going again, with Aubin-Mercier kicking high, and Romero missing a spinning back fist. Surprisingly, perhaps, neither man had shown any inclination to shoot for a takedown through the first half of the fight. Around the 90 second mark, another accidental clash of heads transpired, which left Romero sporting a small cut.

A couple of hard kicks were traded on the restart, when a third head clash, again ruled accidental, almost immediately halted the action. The ref warned both men to watch their heads, and both appeared to have a little extra bounce in their step as they got underway once more.

In the third round, Olivier Aubin-Mercier left nothing to chance. After a foul-filled second, OAM uncorked a head kick that saw the knee connect flush on Romero’s temple. Aubin-Mercier followed up with a single punch as the ref dove in and called it! The third-round finish earned Aubin-Mercier four points; he’ll rematch Natan Schulte in the semifinals, while Clay Collard faces Bruno Miranda in the other semifinal bout.

Canadian Gangster things. #2023PFL6 pic.twitter.com/vAj6J1TTef

— Cageside Press (@Cagesidepress) June 24, 2023

Official Result: Olivier Aubin-Mercier def. Anthony Romero by knockout (knee), Round 3, 0:28

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The final card prior to the post-season was set to see lightweights and welterweights in action, with a somewhat curiously scheduled main event. Booked opposite defending 2022 champ Olivier Aubin-Mercier was newcomer Anthony Romero, a PFL Challenger Series (and Dana White’s Contender Series) veteran — and another Canadian talent.

Not booking OAM against popular lightweight Clay Collard or into a rematch with Stevie Ray seemed like a bit of a missed opportunity, for everyone except Romero himself. In his case Friday was a massive opportunity to make his mark.

The match-up between Shane Burgos and Yamato Nishikawa was also questioned heading into the event, with both fighters lacking any points and needing a finish to make it to the post-season.

In the evening’s co-main event, 2022 welterweight champ Sadibou Sy was paired up with Shane Mitchell.

Full results from the 2023 PFL 6 card in Atlanta, GA can be found below.

2023 PFL 6: Aubin-Mercier vs. Romero Results

Main card

Lightweight: Olivier Aubin-Mercier def. Anthony Romero by knockout (knee), Round 3, 0:28
Welterweight: Sadibou Sy def. Shane Mitchell by knockout (wheel kick), Round 3, 1:35
Lightweight: Shane Burgos def. Yamato Nishikawa by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
Welterweight: Magomed Magomedkerimov def. David Zawada by TKO, Round 1, 3:54
Welterweight: Magomed Umalatov def. Nayib López (30-27, 30-27, 29-27)
Lightweight: Clay Collard def. Stevie Ray by TKO, Round 2, 1:04

Preliminary card

Welterweight: Carlos Leal def. Dilano Taylor by knockout (punches), Round 2, 1:13
Lightweight: Natan Schulte def. Raush Manfio by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Lightweight: Bruno Miranda def. Alex Martinez by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Welterweight: Solomon Renfro def. Jarrah Al-Silawi by knockout Round 2, 1:44
Featherweight: Brahyan Zurcher def. Mike Bardsley by TKO (Punches), Round 2, 4:45
Lightweight: Abdullah Al-Qahtani def. Lamar Brown by submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Round 1, 1:35

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In the main event, 2022 lightweight champ Olivier Aubin-Mercier was paired up with fellow Canadian Anthony Romero, a Challenger Series (not to mention Contender Series) alum who has just one loss among his 13 professional fights to date.

Also featured on the card, the welterweight division, with 2022 champ Sadibou Sy looking to work his way back to a second championship against Shane Mitchell. Lightweight and former UFC star Shane Burgos, meanwhile, needed to make something explosive happen if he was the make the 2022 semifinal round.

Burgos was paired up with Japan’s Yamato Nishikawa.

Weigh-ins for the 2023 PFL 6 card took place Thursday in Atlanta; full results can be found below.

2023 PFL 6: Aubin-Mercier vs. Romero Weigh-In Results

Main card

Lightweight: Olivier Aubin-Mercier (155.6) vs. Anthony Romero (155.4)
Welterweight: Sadibou Sy (170.6) vs. Shane Mitchell (170.8)
Lightweight: Shane Burgos (155.8) vs. Yamato Nishikawa (155.8)
Lightweight: Clay Collard (155.6) vs. Stevie Ray (155.1)

Preliminary card

Welterweight: Magomed Magomedkerimov (171) vs. David Zawada (170.2)
Welterweight: Magomed Umalatov (170.4) vs. Nayib López (170)
Lightweight: Natan Schulte (156) vs. Raush Manfio (156)
Welterweight: Carlos Leal (170.6) vs. Dilano Taylor (171.2)*
Lightweight: Alex Martinez (156) vs. Bruno Miranda (155.8)
Welterweight: Jarrah Al-Silawi (170.8) vs. Solomon Renfro (169.4)
Featherweight: Brahyan Zurcher (146.8 lbs)** vs. Mike Bardsley (144.4)
Lightweight: Abdullah Al-Qahtani (144.8) vs. Lamar Brown (146)

* Taylor misses weight, hitting 171.4 and later 171.2 on his second attempt. Taylor has been given a 1-point penalty, though he is still eligible to win points, and will forfeit 20% of his purse to Carlos Leal.

** Zurcher misses weight, will forfeit 20% of his show purse to Bardsley. 

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This Friday at PFL 6, however, Romero (12-1), one of the top rising talents in Canadian MMA, finally arrives. Stepping up as an injury replacement, the lightweight has been paired up with 2022 champ Olivier Aubin-Mercier, who has not suffered a loss since exiting the UFC a couple of years back.

In a recent interview with Cageside Press, Romero explained how it all went down.

“I guess going back from February, we all know that I didn’t get selected. Nothing new there, second time,” Romero recalled. “But I didn’t get selected, I was supposed to be a replacement for maybe like a showcase bout, something like that. So it was just all about being patient, and hoping that, not in a bad way, but hoping that someone would get hurt or not be able to make the fight so I could step in.”

Always the bridesmaid, never the bride comes to mind when you think about Romero. Being passed over on multiple occasions might bother some fighters, but “The Genius” is nothing if not mentally sound.

“You still have the goal in mind. I think that’s the, I guess you could say, the motivation, that you have the goal in mind. You don’t just stop because someone says no,” noted Romero. “All the greatest people in the world that have ever done something with their life have always ran into the word ‘no’ and kept pushing forward, and something came out of it. So you gotta keep pushing, and that’s what happened.”

Of course, another way of looking at Romero’s main event fight at PFL 6 is that it basically landed in his lap. As he put it, “I didn’t really do anything. I fought, I didn’t get selected, and it’s kind of funny because the same thing with the Contender Series, I fought, I felt like I had a great performance, I didn’t get selected. So when I tried, I didn’t get picked, and I guess when I didn’t try, I got picked.”

Some would call this a no-lose situation for Romero, and a dangerous fight for OAM. Romero’s own mindset is that “this is the greatest opportunity I could have to show my skillset against you can say the top guy, one of the top guys in the world.”

“I beat this guy, I’m the new champ. I’m the guy everyone wants to beat. And that’s good, that’s good for me. This is the position I’ve been fighting for for many years, and I’m glad the opportunity finally popped up.”

Of course, Romero won’t actually be the champ — that’s not how the PFL works. And he’s been paired up with the only other Canadian fighter in the promotion, aside from women’s featherweight Julia Budd. Of all the fights to land, he’s fighting the one other Canadian he possibly could fight.

“Unfortunately yeah. I have no negative energy towards him or hate him or anything like that. That’s the way the format is,” said Romero, who actually likes the format because it takes the politics out of fighting. “I like it personally, because there’s no guys that will be like ‘no I’m not fighting this guy because he’s not close to my ranking.'”

“This would never happen, so far anyways, in the UFC. I would not get signed to the UFC and be fighting Islam Makhachev. He’s not going to say yes, he’s not going to agree to it,” noted Romero. “And that’s the thing that I like about this. Everyone fights everyone, you’re signed, you don’t really get a say in who you fight, and that’s the way it is.”

Watch our full interview with PFL 6 headliner Anthony Romero above. The event takes place this Friday, June 23, 2023 at the Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta, GA.

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The card saw the lightweight division in the spotlight, with a number of promising 155lb talents in the running to earn a PFL contract, and potentially a spot in the league’s regular season.

Friday night’s card in Orlando, Florida was topped by Elvin Espinoza, an undefeated, two-time PFL veteran. Starting the night at 7-0, Espinoza was a strong favorite to earn himself a PFL deal with a big showing — at least if the judges and fan votes saw things his way.

Starting the night at a disadvantage was Espinoza’s opponent, Bosnian Damir Ferhatbegovic. “The Bosnian Barn Cat” missed weight at Thursday’s weigh-in, resulting in the fight moving forward at a 158lb catchweight.

Also prominently featured on Friday’s PFL Challenger Series card was Canadian prospect Anthony Romero. “The Genius” had picked up a win on Dana White’s Contender Series a few years back, but did not end up with a UFC contract.

Now, Romero was once again knocking on the door of a major promotion, with Tony Caruso standing in his way.

The PFL Challenger Series 2023 Week 4 card goes down Friday night in Orlando — full results can be found below.

PFL Challenger Series 2023 Week 4 Results

Elvin Espinoza def. Damir Ferhatbegovic by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2, 1:53
Manoel Sousa def. Paulo Laia by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Anthony Romero def. Antonio Caruso by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
Charles Decca def. Jose Aguayo by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Elvin Espinoza lands a PFL deal following week four of the Challenger Series

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The four-fight all-lightweight affair goes down Friday night in Orlando, Florida, with a spot in the PFL’s regular season potentially up for grabs. Among the fighters in action, Canadian standout Anthony “The Genius” Romero and returning, undefeated PFL alum Elvin Espinoza will take part.

It was Damir Ferhatbegovic who came in heavy at Thursday’s official weigh-in, however. “The Bosnian Barn Cat” hit the scales at 157.2 pounds for his lightweight scrap with Espinoza. That fight now moves forward at a catchweight of 158 pounds.

All other fighters made weight for the event, which airs live from Universal Studios in Orlando. The PFL Challenger Series 2023 Week 4 card is available to stream live on Fubo Sports Network starting at 9PM ET on Friday, February 17, 2023.

Espinoza vs. Ferhatbegovic serves as the main event of the evening, with Espinoza putting his perfect 7-0 record on the line in the bout. For his part, Ferhatbegovic is undefeated in his last four contests, posting a 3-0-1 record. He last competed in MMA as part of last year’s PFL Challenger Series.

PFL Challenger Series 2023 Week 4 Weigh-In Results

Elvin Espinoza (156.0 lbs)  vs. Damir Ferhatbegovic (157.2 lbs)
Manoel Sousa (154.8 lbs)  vs. Paulo Laia (155.4 lbs)
Antonio Caruso (155.0 lbs) vs. Anthony Romero (156.0 lbs)
Charlie Decca (155.8 lbs) vs. Jose Aguayo (155.0 lbs)

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Romero (11-1) appeared on Dana White’s Contender Series a couple of years back, winning his fight but not a UFC contract. It will be a PFL deal hanging in the balance this Friday, in a fight that is arriving at the perfect time for “The Genius.”

“I wanted something big, I wanted a big opportunity. I keep beating people on the regional scene, I believe that was a dominant performance my last fight,” Romero told Cageside Press in a recent exclusive interview. Staying patient, the opportunity Romero was looking for arrived in the form of the Challenger Series. “I didn’t really have a fire under me fighting on the regional scene anymore. Something big was out there, and thankfully PFL was there.”

Romero was first contacted about the Challenger Series in December, though he originally had been tapped as a back-up fighter. “And then they called me again and they said ‘you know what, we changed our mind. We want you on the show.'”

Despite not earning a UFC deal, Southern Ontario’s Romero, considered a top prospect by many the last few years, remains thankful for his Contender Series appearance in 2020.

“I’m glad I was able to display my skills on that show against a high-calibre opponent, and feel that kind of pressure at a young age,” said Romero. “I believe I was 22, turning 23. Who knows where I would have been if I’d got into the UFC, fighting these high-calibre guys. Maybe I wasn’t ready, maybe, who knows. So I’m thankful I got time outside of the UFC or bigger promotions to kind of grow as a fighter, and I believe now is the time. I’m 25-years old, turning 26 the week after the fight, and now is the time.”

Romero never wavered in his belief that if he went after it, another shot in a major promotion would come.

“I was certain, I just needed to push for it. I was getting big opportunities for regional shows, it just didn’t make sense for me,” Romero observed. “I’m at a point where I feel like I’m at the top of one mountain, and I’m ready to jump to the next one.” But again, he reiterated, the fights he was being offered, “it didn’t make sense. They were giving me guys who were these top-level wrestlers, and these top-level strikers, and then they’re going to give me a thousand dollars to fight. And I’m like, ‘it’s not worth it, man.'”

“I own a gym, I make more money with my gym just doing all that stuff. But now that I have the opportunity to perform for a big show and be compensated for it, it’s what I love to do, and that just matches together, and it makes me happy. This is worth it to me, to display my skills and perform.”

On the PFL Challenger Series, Romero has been paired up with Tony Caruso. The Canadian is confident he has what it takes to get the job done.

“I keep saying over and over again, he’s a great opponent. He looks strong, durable, as everyone is in mixed martial arts. Everyone’s pretty tough out there, they like to think they’re tough,” Romero noted. “He seems like a good guy, hasn’t said any hurtful things to me; I like to think I’m a nice guy too, so I’m excited to perform and share the cage with him— but of course I always have that positive mindset in knowing that I’m going to win the fight that night, and I’m going to get that contract that night as well.”

Watch our full interview with Anthony Romero above. The PFL Challenger Series returns this Friday, February 17, 2023 on Fubo Sports Network.

The post PFL Challenger Series: Anthony Romero Didn’t Have Fire Under Him in Regional Scene, Adds “Now Is the Time” appeared first on Cageside Press.

Who could join the 155lb ranks in 2023? We’ve got our 10 Lightweight Prospects the UFC Should Sign in 2023 list ready!

Here’s a look at last year’s list, featuring current UFC roster members Mateusz Rebecki, Mike Figlak, and Ismael Bonfim signing with the UFC in 2022.

Mateusz Rebecki
Mike Figlak
Mehdi Ben Lakhdhar
William Starks
Milson Castro
John Mitchell
Manoel Sousa
Mehdi Dakaev
Ismael Bonfim

Be sure to check out the rest of this series:

10 Heavyweight Prospects the UFC Should Sign in 2023
10 Light Heavyweight Prospects the UFC Should Sign in 2023
10 Middleweight Prospects the UFC Should Sign in 2023
10 Welterweight Prospects the UFC Should Sign in 2023

Now let’s get to the lightweights!

The post 10 Lightweight Prospects the UFC Should Sign in 2023 appeared first on Cageside Press.

While the news was understandably dwarfed by the announcement of Jake Paul joining the PFL, primed to make his MMA debut, in the less distant future, eight lightweight hopefuls will compete for a spot in the league’s 2023 regular season.

Topping the lightweight installment of this year’s PFL Challenger Series will be Elvin Espinoza (7-0) taking on Damir Ferhatbegovic (6-2-1). The undefeated Espinoza has two wins under the Professional Fighters League banner thus far, and has finished six of his seven pro fights.

The only struggle for Elvin Espinoza has been activity, as he fought just once in 2022. As for Ferhatbegovic, the Bosnian fighting out of Tennessee is undefeated since 2017, when he lost back-to-back fights against future UFC athletes Luis Pena and Jonathan Pearce.

“As the PFL enters 2023, we are excited to announce our Lightweight division for the 2023 PFL Challenger Series being held live from Universal Studios Florida,” said PFL President of Fighter Operations, Ray Sefo, in a press release announcing the match-ups.

Canadian Anthony Romero (11-1), a Niagara Top Team fighter who won on the Contender Series in 2020, has also been booked for the card. He’ll face Antonio (Tony) Caruso (8-1), who last competed in MMA in 2020, when he picked up a win over former champ Eduard Folayang in ONE Championship.

The PFL Challenger Series airs live on Fubo Sports Network. Booked at lightweight as part of this year’s Challenger Series are the following match-ups:

• Elvin Espinoza vs. Damir Ferhatbegovic
• Mandel Sousa vs. Paulo Henrique
• Antonio Caruso vs. Anthony Romero
• Charlie Decca vs. Jose Aguayo

The post Lightweight Line-Up Announced for PFL Challenger Series 2023 appeared first on Cageside Press.