Harrison (14-0), a two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time PFL women’s lightweight champion, has built up her name as the promotion’s biggest star, smashing her way through two consecutive tournaments.

She’s currently en route to a three-peat, with arguably her biggest foil, Julia Budd, being forced out of a regular season match-up with “Judo Kayla” recently, missing the playoffs altogether in the process.

The loss of arguably Harrison’s biggest fight to date was reminiscent of 2019, when the lightweight field included Strikeforce and Invicta FC bantamweight champ Sarah Kaufman. Both women made the playoffs that year, but Kaufman was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Larissa Pacheco.

Speaking to The Underground, Harrison spoke of her motivation to keep grinding in the gym. “There’s always a bigger, badder fish in the sea,” Harrison noted. “Everyone’s time is limited, everyone’s ticket is numbered, and I know that, and I respect that.”

Saying that it won’t be Larissa Pacheco who will take her out this year — should the pair both win their semifinal match-ups, they’ll meet for a third time in the PFL 2022 final — Harrison also revealed that she wants to skip out on the tournament entirely moving forward, in favor of taking the biggest fights.

“I think that going through this season especially, there’s been some other stuff behind the scenes going on. Whatever, life is life. There’s always something going on,” Harrison revealed. “But I think that, 14, by the time I’ll be done with the season it’ll be 16 fights in [to her career], it’ll be time to maybe start [looking at something else]. I want the big fights. I’ve been doing what you would call seasons – I’ve been training twice a day since I was 12 years old. So it’s been 20 years now of putting my body through the mill. And it’s not like I go in and I [take it lightly].”

“I want the big fights. And if that means I have to be patient and wait and not compete in a season, then I’ll be patient and wait,” Harrison added. “It’s not about money, it’s about legacy, and it’s about about testing myself against the best. So I think that this will probably be my last season.”

Harrison’s next assignment comes at PFL 9, where she faces Martina Jindrova.

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Adams (9-4), a.k.a. “The Kraken,” announced the news on social media on Wednesday.

“Just signed the contract for PFL MMA. I will be an alternate meaning that if anyone can’t fight for whatever reason I get my shot,” Adams wrote on Facebook. “I weigh in June 23 either way in Atlanta. My sponsors are set and I just want to thank all of them, as well as my fans for staying by me through the difficult process of finding a willing opponent, especially FURY Fighting Championship for allowing me this opportunity.”

“It’s no secret that plans don’t always unfold our way, but trusting in the timing of higher powers outside of my understanding has made way for numerous opportunities,” Adams added. “There’s six months left in this year and I plan to make the most of them.”

Adams won his way into the UFC in 2018 by way of Dana White’s Contender Series, after starting his pro carer going 3-0 for Legacy Fighting Alliance. After winning his first fight inside the octagon, he went on a three-fight slump that saw him lose fights to Arjan Bhullar, Greg Hardy, and Justin Tafa. That brought about his exit from the company.

From there, Adams moved to Fury FC, winning his next three fights, and capturing the Fury FC heavyweight title in the process. Though he’d lose the belt in his next fight, Adams bounced back in February, defeating EliteXC and UFC vet Aaron Rosa via TKO.

While Adams won’t necessarily fight on June 23, or at all, for the PFL, were he to step into the tournament, he’d have a shot at a million dollars in prize money. That’s the sort of opportunity that’s awfully hard to say no to.

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Baseball great Alex Rordiguez, better known simply as A-Rod, has joined the board after a recent funding round. Professional Fighters League officials announced the news in a press release on Thursday, noting that Rodriguez had invested in the league’s recent Series E equity round, with funding going towards global expansion and the launch of the PFL’s PPV Super Fight division.

Venture capital firm Waverly Capital also invested; Daniel Leff will represent the firm as another addition to the PFL board.

“While it is clear that sports is the most valuable content and intellectual property in the world, what is also becoming increasingly clear is that MMA is the growth sports business of this decade,” said PFL Founder and Chairman Donn Davis in Thursday’s press release.  “The MMA category is on fire, and while UFC is the first winner in this market, several major valuable companies will be built, and PFL has secured the #2 market position and is the fastest growing and most innovative company in MMA.”

The Professional Fighters League just completed the first half of its 2022 regular season. The season format has allowed the PFL to stand out from other promotions, as has the million dollars in prize money going to each champion at the end of the year. To date, the league’s biggest home grown stars have been two-time champs Kayla Harrison and Ray Cooper III. Key free agent signings like Anthony Pettis, Rory MacDonald, Antonio Carlos Junior, and Jeremy Stephens have also helped the league maintain a high profile.

Thursday’s press release included a few words from A-Rod. “I love the global reach of MMA,” said Alex Rodriguez. “The PFL continues to build and innovate for fans, media, and fighters and there is massive demand in the marketplace.”

Rodriguez, a 14-time All-Star, World Series Champion, 3-time American League MVP, and 5-time American League home run leader, has ventured out into the business world since retiring. He currently is Chairman of Presidente beer, and is part of the ownership group behind the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves.

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The Professional Fighters League announced on Tuesday that coverage of its 2022 events will be carried Channel 4 in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The deal will kick off with the launch of the PFL Challenger Series on February 18, and sees Channel 4 pick up exclusive live coverage and streaming rights for the events.

In addition to over 20 live events throughout the year, the broadcaster also gets access to the promotion’s fight library, plus other original content.

“The Professional Fighters League is thrilled to announce our media partnership with Channel 4 in the United Kingdom and Ireland,” PFL CEO Peter Murray was quoted as saying in a press release on Tuesday. “MMA fans in the UK and Ireland will now have unprecedented access to year-round live MMA events featuring star PFL fighters competing in a unique sport season format. Our partnership with Channel 4 illustrates MMA has further evolved into a mainstream sport and PFL is the fastest growing and most innovative league in the world.”

In addition to the broadcast deal the league also announced the PFL Scholarship initiative in the United Kingdom. That initiative, in partnership with Great Britain Top Team, will see the league cover the costs of training and gym membership for five UK-based fighters deemed “talented but underprivileged” for a period of one year. At GBTT, those athletes will work under the likes of Ashleigh Grimshaw and Brad Pickett.

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Stephens (28-19, 1NC) fought out his contract in 2021, suffering a loss in his final fight inside the octagon against Mateusz Gamrot. “Lil Heathen” had first fought under the UFC banner in 2007, and would go on to compete there 34 times in total. The hard-hitting featherweight and lightweight became a fan favorite during his time in the UFC, pulling off memorable knockouts of Rafael dos Anjos, Josh Emmett, and others.

Earlier this month, news of Stephens departing the UFC made the rounds. On Monday, the 35-year old Alliance MMA fighter announced on The MMA Hour that he had signed on with the PFL.

Stephens said he’ll debut this April against an opponent yet to be determined. While he has fought at both lightweight and featherweight in the past, it will be the 155lb division he’ll join this season.

Despite some early success in the UFC, Stephens has not won a fight since 2018. He lost five of his final six fights for the promotion; the other ended in the no contest due to an accidental eye poke.

In addition, Stephens courted controversy when he shoved Drakkar Klose at weigh-ins ahead of UFC on ESPN 22 in April of last year. That assault resulted in Klose sustaining a spinal injury, and their fight the following day wound up cancelled.

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The PFL is staying with ESPN.  The promotion announced on Tuesday morning that it has signed a multiyear extension to stay with the worldwide leader in sports.  Their deal with the company had expired following the 2021 season and it had been reported that the promotion would consider their options going into 2022.

PFL is back on @ESPN this April 📅 pic.twitter.com/ajnfBCbhm8

— PFL (@PFLMMA) January 25, 2022

Per a press release, the deal will include expanded coverage of the PFL that includes not only simulcasting the regular season and playoffs on ESPN and ESPN+ but as well as airing exclusive PFL content.  The release cited the all-access series on boxing champion Claressa Shields as an example of coverage that goes beyond airing events.  The deal is set to begin with the telecast of the first event of the 2022 season on April 20.

PFL CEO Peter Murray said of the deal:

“After two successful years of providing fans with premium MMA content alongside ESPN, PFL is proud to extend and expand our agreement. As MMA continues to evolve as a sport and rights property, our differentiated product and unique approach will help shape its path forward and in 2022 fans can expect more events, matchups between the world’s best fighters and innovative content than ever before.”

Not mentioned are the PFL’s plans to possibly expand into the pay-per-view market in 2022.  Last year, it was reported that the promotion was looking to put on pay-per-view events in season four.  Exactly how the event(s) could fit into the tournament format is still uncertain.

While the official PFL season is set to air on ESPN, the promotion also announced a multiyear deal to air their Challenger Series events on the streaming service fuboTV.  The service is already home to regional promotions such as Lights Out Xtreme Fighting out of California.  Outside of giving fighters a platform, winners of the Challenger Series events also have an opportunity to make it into the official PFL season.  The first Challenger Series event is set to take place on February 18.

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Marina Mokhnatkina and Martina Jindrova are the most recent additions to the women’s 155lb weight class. “We are very excited to bring two women of this caliber into our women’s lightweight division,” PFL President of Fighter Operations Ray Sefo said in a press release Wednesday. “The goal has been to elevate our roster each year and that will be the case once again in 2022. These signings, along with others we already have in the pipeline will show the commitment we have to building an even stronger roster for the coming Season.”

Jindrova (3-1), a native of the Czech Republic, got her start in kickboxing and Muay Thai. In 2013, she was linked to a Muay Thai bout with the legendary Cris Cyborg, but was forced to withdraw due to injury. The Czech fighter would go on to become a ISKA K-1 kickboxing champion, and four-time Czech national kickboxing champion — then make the jump to MMA in 2018.

Mokhnatkina (5-2) previously competed for Bellator MMA, going 1-1 in that promotion’s featherweight division. The Sambo world champion has fought as low as bantamweight, competing for the inaugural Fight Nights Global women’s bantamweight championship against current UFC fighter Liana Jojua. She lost the fight by majority decision, before losing her Bellator debut to Janay harding, then bouncing back this June against Amanda Bell.

The PFL’s current season is still playing out, with Kayla Harrison once again favored to win the women’s lightweight tournament.

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