PFL has started to unveil its roster for its 2025 “World Tournament” tour, beginning with its welterweight bracket.
Eight fighters were announced Tuesday for PFL’s single-elimination bracket at 170 pounds, which is expected to begin in April as part of a four-show stint at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, USA.
While PFL’s system since 2018 has seen fighters compete in a unique season-to-playoffs schedule to win a title—fighting twice to score points within a standings system before the top four talents would be placed into a single-elimination postseason—this year sees the promotion instead implement a simpler eight-fighter grand prix-style bracket to find its winners.
The full roster this year includes Florim Zendeli, Andrey Koreshkov, Jason Jackson, Magomed Umalatov, Mukhamed Berkhamov, Giannis Bachar, Logan Storley, and Masayuki Kikuiri.
The welterweight tournament is notably without 2024 PFL Welterweight Champion Shamil Musaev, who went on an undefeated run of four consecutive victories to earn his title. It’s unclear what the promotion’s plans for him are this year.
Here’s a quick rundown of all the welterweight competitors.
Magomed Umalatov: 2024 finalist who had a 17-fight undefeated record broken by Musaev. Previous wins include PFL fights against Neiman Gracie, Andrey Koreshkov and Dilano Taylor.
Jason Jackson: Former Bellator Welterweight Champion appearing for the first time since dropping his title to Ramazan Kuramagomedov last year. He had an impressive eight-fight winning streak before then, including a 2023 victory which ended Yaroslav Amosov’s undefeated run.
Andrey Koreshkov: The most experienced fighter in the tournament, Koreshkov enters with 20 past Bellator appearances under his belt. He had an unsuccessful first year in the PFL, not making it into the welterweight playoffs after going one-for-two in the regular season.
Logan Storley: The third most notable Bellator crossover athlete to appear in this year’s welterweight bracket. The former interim champ similarly struggled in his first PFL year: He lost to Shamil Musaev in his first regular season fight, and while he bounced back against Luca Poclit, Storley didn’t make the postseason cut.
Florim Zendeli: Albania’s Zendeli is joining PFL’s main welterweight tour after winning the promotion’s European 170-pound tournament last year, submitting Daniele Miceli in December to cap off a trio of wins within a year.
Mukhamed Berkhamov: Former ACB champ who was acquired by the PFL as part of the Bellator roster in late 2023. Scored the biggest U.S. victory of his career in August, sneaking at Ray Cooper III with a split decision.
Giannis Bachar: Greek welterweight prospect who scored a 50-second win over Omiel Brown in late 2023 to capture Cage Warriors gold. He was last seen in early 2024 as part of “The Ultimate Fighter,” being on the receiving end of a quick loss to Robert Valentin in the middleweight quarter-finals.
Masayuki Kikuiri: Former Pancrase champ who has earned a pair of stoppage wins since signing with Bellator in 2023, beating Alexey Shrukevich and Herman Terrado with strikes.
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