What to look at for at PFL four: One other take a look at for Kayla Harrison
Marc RaimondiESPN
The second half of the Skilled Fighters League season kicks off Thursday, and a handful of rivals are taking a look at must-win eventualities. Some are jockeying for prime playoff place.
The PFL’s welterweight and girls’s light-weight divisions might be in motion in Atlantic Metropolis, New Jersey, at PFL four (5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+). Which means the return of two-time Olympic judo gold medalist Kayla Harrison and PFL 2018 welterweight champion Magomed Magomedkerimov.
The highest eight welterweights make the playoffs, whereas solely the highest 4 girls’s lightweights survive and transfer on to the postseason. This card is massively vital for all of the fighters concerned.
Here is a have a look at the 5 issues to look at going into the occasion:
Are Kayla Harrison and Sarah Kaufman on an inevitable collision course?
The PFL is halfway by way of its common season, and you’ll watch motion at PFL four, PFL 5 and PFL 6 on ESPN+. You can too watch archives of PFL 1, PFL 2 and PFL three of their entirety.
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It positive appears that approach, however this is the factor about MMA: There’s actually no such factor as a foregone conclusion. Harrison has to take care of Morgan Frier on Thursday and Kaufman faces Roberta Samad, who, like Harrison and Kaufman, is coming off a win in her first bout. Let’s not neglect that Kaufman is a profession 135-pounder, combating 20 kilos heavier than normal.
Solely the highest 4 girls’s light-weight fighters make the playoffs in October, so this PFL four card is extremely essential. Kaufman is main the pack with six factors, courtesy of her first-round end of Frier in Could, whereas Harrison, Samad and Bobbi Jo Dalziel are all knotted at three factors. Whereas most anticipate Harrison and Kaufman to satisfy within the $1 million last, they should make the playoffs first — and it isn’t inconceivable that they conflict within the semifinals. Harrison would actually profit from a end Thursday after going to a call in her first combat of the season in opposition to Larissa Pacheco.
Magomed Magomedkerimov appeared spectacular at PFL 1 in dispatching John Howard, however he might face his hardest take a look at of the season Thursday in opposition to Chris Curtis. Ryan Loco/PFL
Is anybody going to push Magomed Magomedkerimov, or is he destined to repeat?
Magomedkerimov was PFL’s $1 million welterweight champion final season, and he is the favourite as soon as once more in 2019. He is one of the crucial underrated fighters on the planet; if Magomedkerimov was within the UFC, he probably could be a ranked 170-pounder, or near it. The Russian all-around fighter is effectively on his approach with six factors going into his second combat — in opposition to Chris Curtis — which would be the headliner of PFL four.
Curtis isn’t any joke, although, and could be one in all Magomedkerimov’s hardest exams of this season. Curtis has received eight straight, together with a third-round TKO end final 12 months on Dana White’s Contender Sequence. The California native completed veteran Andre Fialho in Could and is sitting in fifth place within the welterweight division with 4 factors. Getting a excessive seed might be key for Magomedkerimov if he needs to keep away from the powerful welterweights on the high of the division; in any other case, he might see one in all them early on within the playoffs, like his PFL 2018 last opponent Ray Cooper III, as an example.
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Sadibou Sy will get PFL 1 on ESPN2 began in fashion pic.twitter.com/j4WPtYBm28
– ESPN MMA (@espnmma) Could 10, 2019
How does Sadibou Sy high a 17-second knockout?
That appears virtually unimaginable. However he does not actually should. Sy is a critical contender within the welterweight division after competing in PFL’s middleweight division (now on hiatus) in 2018. If his body-kick knockout of David Michaud was any indication, he is not giving up a lot when it comes to pace or energy at 170 kilos. “The Swedish Denzel Washington” is maybe one of the crucial harmful threats to Magomedkerimov’s purpose of defending his throne.
On Thursday, Sy faces UFC veteran Glaico Franca, who can also be coming off a first-round end and 6 factors after his first combat in Could. Franca will current an actual problem for Sy along with his expertise (25 professional fights to Sy’s 13) and grappling skill. Franca has been within the cage with the likes of UFC contenders Gregor Gillespie and James Vick. We’ll know much more in regards to the flashy Sy and his championship prospects after Thursday night — that a lot is for certain.
After ending second within the PFL welterweight division in 2018, Ray Cooper III had a robust displaying in his debut outing of 2019 — however he faces a tricky problem Thursday in opposition to John Howard. Ryan Loco/PFL
What combat stands out because the must-see contest of the night time on paper?
The combat you completely should circle in your combat card is John Howard vs. Ray Cooper III, which might actually produce fireworks. Howard, a longtime UFC veteran, has sharp putting, knockout energy and a willingness to face and commerce. Cooper obtained to the PFL 2018 welterweight last on the again of his unimaginable energy. Simply ask Jake Shields about that.
Not solely might this one produce some pleasure, however it’s massively vital for the standings and playoff seeding within the division. Cooper is in fourth place with 5 factors, coming off a second-round end of Zane Kamaka. Howard had the unenviable draw of getting defending champ Magomedkerimov in his first combat and he misplaced by way of first-round submission. Howard is in a must-win scenario close to a playoff berth, as he is sitting on zero factors. He might actually use a end, however Cooper brings the warmth. This might be enjoyable.
Larissa Pacheco confirmed promise in her opening combat of the PFL season, and even took Kayla Harrison’s again at one level. If she comes up large on Thursday, she might do some harm within the playoffs transferring ahead. Ryan Loco/PFL
Which fighter who misplaced his or her first combat has the perfect probability to bounce again?
Pacheco confirmed guts, sturdiness and greater than slightly ability on the bottom in Could when she survived three rounds with two-time Olympic judo champion Harrison. None of these issues was sufficient to get her factors — she misplaced a unanimous resolution. However out of all the ladies’s lightweights who got here up empty early within the season, Pacheco has essentially the most progress potential. She has UFC expertise and continues to be evolving at age 24.
PFL is just not making it straightforward on her on this second combat, as she faces Dalziel, who beat Genah Fabian by resolution in her first combat. Dalziel is a kickboxer, whereas Pacheco might be at her greatest on the bottom. This might be a captivating conflict of types — and a combat with main implications when it comes to playoff seeding. Pacheco wants at the very least a win to get in, or she’ll be sitting at residence in Brazil come October. Bear in mind, Pacheco has completed the likes of Irene Aldana and been within the cage with Germaine de Randamie and UFC champion Jessica Andrade. There will not be something offered on this combat that she has not seen earlier than.