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| (Image Source: MMA Junkie - USA Today/Professional Fighters League) |
The Professional Fighters League (PFL), the fastest growing and most innovative sports league, officially announced the return of the PFL Challenger Series for a new season which will start on January 27 exclusively in the US on Fubo Sports Network, the live, free-to-consumer TV network from FuboTV Inc., the leading sports-first live TV streaming platform, and worldwide via PFL's official YouTube channel and international broadcast partners. The eight-part competition will air live on Friday nights in primetime through March 17, with fighters competing for the opportunity to earn a PFL contract and the potential to compete for a world championship and the US$1 million winner’s purse. PFL contract winners will be determined by a judging panel, comprised of combat sports champions and celebrity guests. Each week fighters from around the world will compete for a PFL contract that will either put them in the 2023 Regular Season or set them on a development path with the League in hopes of joining a future Season.
“Professional Fighters League is the leader in creating unique, engaging competitions for MMA (mixed martial arts) fans around the world and we’re thrilled to once again partner with FuboTV to be the home of the PFL Challenger Series. In just one year, Challenger Series established itself as a proving ground for future world title contenders," said PFL CEO Peter Murray. “We’re proud to be the returning home of the PFL Challenger Series and give up and coming fighters an opportunity to get in front of our audience of engaged MMA fans. MMA and fight content continue to be wildly popular on Fubo Sports Network, drawing both audiences and sponsors to the network. As the exclusive home of the PFL Challenger series, we’re giving our audience even more of what they’re already craving,” said FuboTV Head of Fubo Networks and Originals Pamela Duckworth. The inaugural edition of the PFL Challenger Series saw rising PFL star Dilano Taylor competing for Welterweight gold and US$1 million at the PFL World Championship last November 25th. Taylor entered the 2022 PFL Challenger Series as a relatively unknown fighter and has made the most of the contract he earned. For the 2023 edition of the PFL Challenger Series, the league has officially announced the lineup of competitors and bouts for the Heavyweight, Women's Featherweight and Welterweight cards with more to be revealed in the coming weeks prior to the start of the season.
The main event of the Heavyweight card will see Giacomo Lemos and Danilo Marques, two Brazilians, match up in the PFL SmartCage for a bout that’s sure to bring fireworks. Lemos previously fought in the 2022 PFL Challenger Series, and will look to continue his winning ways after he earned an impressive victory via knockout in his debut. Marques fights out of Sao Paulo and trains at Vila da Luta, the same gym as Demian Maia and Vanessa Melo. Marques is an experienced fighter with eight career wins in the first round, and has an 83% finish rate, with four knockouts and six submissions. Greg “The Viking King” Velasco, an American wrestling specialist, was a former NCAA D-1 wrestler at Rider University and owns an 80% finish rate with a 5 -1 professional record. Velasco will look to make a statement in his PFL debut against Brazilian Vitor Resende, who owns a 100% finish rate with three of his wins coming in the first round. Resende, who stands 6’9”, trains out of the world famous American Top Team gym in Coconut Creek, Florida. Manchester native, Abraham Bably, will enter the SmartCage as an undefeated mixed martial artist (2-0 as a professional, 4-0 as an amateur).The Manchester Top Team product will square off with the heavy-hitting American, Hassan Graham. Graham previously fought for Cage Titans, and holds a first round KO victory, along with an undefeated amateur record of 4-0. Louie Sutherland, a Scottish heavy-handed striker, will match up with Alton “Murda” Meeks, an American former D-1 college football player at Iowa State and Northern Illinois University. Sutherland comes into the matchup with four knockout wins coming in the first round. Meeks, meanwhile, is 4-1 as a professional and boasts a 100% finish rate with two knockouts and two submissions.
The main event of the 2023 PFL Challenger Series Women’s Featherweight card will see Amanda Leve, a world class Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner and IBJJF World Champion, with a 1-0 professional record, look to earn a PFL contract when she steps into the PFL SmartCage against Naranjargal Tsend-Ayush. Tsend-Ayush is an undefeated mixed martial artist who competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics in judo. She will become the first Mongolian fighter to compete on the PFL’s world stage. Jeslen “Wrecking Ball” Mishelle, a grappling specialist with two PFL Challenger Series victories, looks to land the PFL contract which has eluded her, when she faces Evelyn “Spartan” Martins. Martins is a 21-year-old phenom fighting out of the world famous American Top Team gym in Coconut Creek, Florida. Karolina Sobek is a perfect 4-0 in the cage and boasts a submission victory over PFL semifinalist Martina Jindrova. Sobek faces high level Judoka Senna van de Veerdonk. Van de Veerdonk has won three professional MMA fights via armbar submission and has vast training in kickboxing to go along with her judo accolades. Michelle “The Wild One” Montague returns to the PFL Challenger Series after posting a first-round submission win in 2022. Montague was a member of New Zealand’s National Wrestling Team and is one of the most highly regarded prospects in MMA. Her opponent, Shaquita “Queen Onyx Pire” Amador Woods, owns one amateur MMA win, which came by way of knockout seven seconds into her bout.
The main event of the 2023 PFL Challenger Series Welterweight card will see Lucas “Hulk” Barbosa, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu star who holds a grappling victory over Gilbert Burns, look to make the transition to MMA. He stands across the PFL SmartCage from Itso Babulaidze who won his PFL debut by knockout and trains out of Renzo Gracie Philly. Undefeated CFFC Welterweight Champion Eric Alequin will face Thad ”Silverback” Jean. Jean, also undefeated, has competed in CFFC and LFA and boasts a victory over former PFL Challenger Series contract winner and 2022 PFL Challenger Series alumni Dilano Taylor. Current Jungle Fights Welterweight Champion Quemuel “Manumito” Ottoni, the only man to defeat current UFC Middleweight Champion Alex Pereira, puts his 5-fight win streak on the line against Jozef Wittner. Wittner enters the SmartCage with 11 stoppages while riding a four-fight winning streak. Mostafa Rashed Neda, a judo specialist on a three-fight win streak, will face off against Nicholas Alley, who has earned 5 of his 7 career wins by submission and boasts an 86% stoppage rate.
FuboTV subscribers can stream the PFL Challenger Series plus more thrilling MMA on Fubo Sports Network as part of FuboTV’s subscription packages featuring 125+ leading sports, news and entertainment channels. Fubo Sports Network is also available for free on LG Channels, Samsung TV Plus, The Roku Channel, Vizio WatchFree+, Tubi, Plex, and XUMO with even more fresh content across Instagram, TikTok, Twitch, Twitter and YouTube. Professional Fighters League (PFL) is the No. 2 MMA company globally and the only combat sports company where elite talent compete in a unique format that includes a Regular Season, Playoffs and World Championship which is dubbed as "the biggest night in MMA history".
