PFL’s fourth season is officially set.
The promotion is scheduled to start its regular season in April, with six divisions each competing to win a grand prize of $1 million, per an announcement made earlier this week.
PFL is scheduled to begin their 2022 season with three events at the Esports Arena in Arlington, Texas, USA. The season opener will take place on April 20th, featuring men’s lightweights and light heavyweights.
A week after that, PFL will have their featherweight and heavyweight divisions compete on April 28th. The promotion will then conclude their first leg of the season on May 6th with the welterweight and women’s lightweight division.
The season will wrap up in a mid-June to early July run in Atlanta, Georgia, with the specific venue pending at the moment. Dates at that event will be June 17th, 24th, and July 1st.
PFL Announces Fights For Season Opener
19 of the 20 names for the season opener have been announced.
The card will be headlined by 2021 PFL Lightweight Champion Raush Manfio, who will take on former UFC fighter Don Madge.
Manfio had a perfect 2021 season, scoring four consecutive wins from April to October. The season was his first run in the PFL after previously competing in Titan FC.
Madge won in a non-tournament PFL bout last year, submitting Nathan Williams with a rear naked choke.
Former UFC fighter Anthony Pettis will begin his second PFL regular season run in the co-main event, facing Myles Price at lightweight.
Pettis had an unsuccessful debut year for the promotion last year, losing twice in the regular season and not making it into the playoffs. He is facing Bellator alum Price, who will be competing for the first time since 2019.
2021 PFL Light Heavyweight Champion Antonio Carlos Junior will get his year started on the main card against Delan Monte.
Carlos is coming off a dominant Grand Final win from October, securing a first-round submission victory over Marthin Hamlet to win $1 million. His PFL career started just months after his long UFC run came to an end.
Monte is joining the PFL season after attaining eight wins and just one loss on the regional scene in Brazil.
Making his first appearance outside of the UFC since 2007, Jeremy Stephens will face Clay Collard in the opening bout of the main card.
Collard was eliminated in the semi-finals of the bracket last year, losing to season winner Manfio.
Stephens will be fighting for his first victory since 2018, having gone winless through his last six appearances in the UFC.
Full Lineup
The entire 10-fight card includes many returning veterans along with prospects like Josh Silveira and Bruco Souto. The only fighter still awaiting an opponent is Olivier Aubin-Mercier.
Here’s the full lineup:
Main Card (9:00PM EDT / 8:00PM CDT) (ESPN)
Bout 10: Raush Manfio (15-3) vs. Don Madge (10-3-1) (Lightweight)
Bout 9: Anthony Pettis (24-12) vs. Myles Price (11-7) (Lightweight)
Bout 8: Antonio Carlos Junior (13-5) vs. Delan Monte (8-1) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 7: Clay Collard (20-9) vs. Jeremy Stephens (28-19) (LIghtweight)
Preliminary Card
Bout 6: Emiliano Sordi (23-9-1) vs. Josh Silveira (8-0) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 5: Olivier Aubin-Mercier (13-5) vs. TBA (Lightweight)
Bout 4: Marthin Hamlet (8-3) vs. Teodoras Aukstuolis (11-5) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 3: Omari Akhmedov (21-7-1) vs. Viktor Pesta (18-6) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 2: Rob Wilkinson (13-2) vs. Bruco Souto (15-3) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 1: Alexander Martinez (8-2) vs. Stevie Ray (23-9) (Lightweight)
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