The featherweight bracket for PFL’s 2025 World Tournament is set.
Eight fighters will appear on April 3rd to kick off a single-elimination bracket at 145 pounds, with the field including a pair of past PFL champions.
While matchups aren’t confirmed, we know that Jeremy Kennedy, Gabriel Braga, Movlid Khaybulaev, Nathan Kelly, Yves Landu, Kim Tae-kyun, Adam Borics, and Jesus Pinedo will be in action.
Much like the recent welterweight lineup revealed by PFL, the latest roster is without 2024 champ Timur Khizriev. It’s unclear whether the exclusion of last year’s champs will be a widespread move across all eight of their brackets.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the roster:
Movlid Khaybulaev: 2021 PFL Champion Khaybulaev will return with the hopes of earning a second title at featherweight. After a flawless debut season saw him beat veterans like Brendan Loughnane and Chris Wade en route to a title, his 2023 campaign was cut short due to an injury that forced him out of the playoffs. Khaybulaev is undefeated through nearly two dozen pro fights.
Jesus Pinedo: After spending all of 2024 out of action, 2023 champ Pinedo will return in the upcoming bracket. Pinedo had an explosive first year in the PFL, earning a trio of finishes—culminating with a grand final stoppage against Gabriel Braga—to become champ.
Gabriel Braga: While he had strong runs in the 2023 and 2024 PFL seasons—making it to the finals two years back and getting eliminated in the semi-finals just a few months ago—Braga will search for the long-awaited tournament win when he appears this year.
Adam Borics: Borics is a former Bellator prospect looking for his first major run in the PFL. While he appeared as part of the 2024 season and started off strong with a win over Enrique Barzola, his year was cut short after withdrawing from a June appearance against Brett Johns.
Jeremy Kennedy: Kennedy is an experienced featherweight with past appearances in UFC and Bellator. He’s coming back after a pair of losses last year, coming up unsuccessful against Bellator champ Patricio Pitbull then losing a non-tournament fight to Gabriel Braga.
Nathan Kelly: A prospect who has developed within PFL’s system for years via non-tournament appearances. Kelly is coming back after taking his first loss through seven PFL/Bellator fights, getting submitted in January by Akhmed Magomedov.
Yves Landu: French MMA vet Landu will try to keep his recent momentum going in America. Landu has strung together five Bellator wins since 2022, his longest pro win streak in over a decade.
Kim Tae-kyun: In what looks like the sole new acquisition in the featherweight roster this year, Korea’s Kim comes over after going on a run of five wins and one loss between appearances in Brave CF and UAE Warriors. After fighting in Korea, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, and Kazakhstan, Kim will make his U.S. debut soon.
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