PFL recently unveiled the full 10-fight card for their first playoff event on August 13th. The lineup includes four playoff fights along with an undercard of six bouts.
The fights are set to take place at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, USA.
The semi-final playoff fights on August 13th will allow welterweights and lightweights to secure their spot in the grand finals of the 2021 season. Those fights include PFL veterans like Ray Cooper III and Magomed Magomedkerimov, along with names like Rory MacDonald and rising prospect Alexander Martinez.
A report on the four playoff fights was published last week and can be viewed here.
Schulte and Aubin-Mercier Headline Prelims
A high-profile fight will take place on the six-fight prelims, as 2019 PFL Lightweight Champion Natan Schulte will take on former UFC fighter Olivier Aubin-Mercier
In a surprise to many, Schulte didn’t qualify for the PFL playoffs during the regular season. After losing his first bout to Marcin Held and only scoring three points in his sole win that season, he did not crack the top four of the lightweight standings.
Aubin-Mercier won his PFL debut earlier this year, defeating Held via unanimous decision. The victory snapped a three-fight losing streak that Aubin-Mercier had entered the promotion with.
Welterweight Veterans Booked For Undercard
Experienced athletes in the 170-pound weight class are expected to appear on the prelims. Many will be making their PFL debut, with others appearing for the second or third time this year.
UFC veteran of an entire decade, Gleison Tibau, will fight Sadibou Sy in August. The fighters are being matched up after both not qualifying for the playoffs during the regular season.
12-fight Bellator vet Brett Cooper will make his PFL debut when facing Nikolay Aleksakhin.
Undefeated Magomed Umalatov will get his second-ever PFL appearance when facing promotional newcomer Micah Terrill.
After not being signed by the UFC on the latest season of “Dana White’s Contender Series,” Michael Lombardo will head to the PFL to face Kyron Bowen.
Full Lineup
Former CFFC Lightweight Champion Darrell Horcher is also expected to compete on the card, although his opponent is not known at the moment.
Here is how the full show looks currently:
Main Card (9:00PM EDT) (ESPN 2 / ESPN+)
Bout 10: Rory MacDonald (22-7-1) vs. Ray Cooper III (22-7-1) (Welterweight)
Bout 9: Joao Zeferino (26-9) vs. Magomed Magomedkerimov (28-5) (Welterweight)
Bout 8: Clay Collard (20-8) vs. Raush Manfio (13-3) (Lightweight)
Bout 7: Loik Radzhabov (14-3-1) vs. Alexander Martinez (8-1) (Lightweight)
Preliminary Card (5:30PM EDT) (ESPN+)
Bout 6: Natan Schulte (21-4-1) vs. Olivier Aubin-Mercier (12-5) (Lightweight)
Bout 5: Sadibou Sy (9-5-2) vs. Gleison Tibau (35-15) (Welterweight)
Bout 4: Nikolay Aleksakhin (26-6) vs. Brett Cooper (27-15) (Welterweight)
Bout 3: Darrell Horcher (14-4) vs. TBA (Lightweight)
Bout 2: Magomed Umalatov (10-0) vs. Micah Terrill (15-8) (Welterweight)
Bout 1: Kyron Bowen (9-6) vs. Michael Lombardo (11-2) (Welterweight)
Knockdown News 