The PFL announces the first three events for the 2023 season
Today, the PFL announced the The first three events of the 2023 season And there are some straight engravings on the cards. The promotion announced two fights for the first three events and also announced that all fights would take place at the Virgin Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The PFL 2023 campaign kicks off on April 1st and things are kicking off in the Featherweight and Light Heavyweight divisions. Heading the first card is 2022 Featherweight Champion Brendan Loughnan (26-4) who will take on former UFC title challenger Marlon Moraes (23-11-1).
Moraes came out of retirement last year to sign with the promotion and make his championship event debut. After dominating the first two rounds of the fight, he was stopped in the third round which was his fifth straight loss.
Loughnane came close to PFL gold in 2021, but won’t be denied in 2022. Winning every fight leading up to the finale, Loughnane battled it out with Bubba Jenkins. Loughnan left no doubts when he stopped Jenkins in the fourth round.
The light heavyweight highlight match on April 1st features a newcomer to the promotion. Former UFC title challenger Thiago Santos (22-11) will take on last year’s light heavyweight champion Rob Wilkinson (17-2).
Wilkinson dominated his way through the 2022 season en route to winning the Light Heavyweight Championship. He went a perfect 4-0 with four knockouts and the third round saw no fights. Last August, Thiago Santos had a war with current UFC champion Jamal Hill.
After getting out in front of Hill, Santos was free to test the market. He eventually signed with the PFL and was given a chance against the best the promotion had to offer in his first fight.
Other events in the PFL
In addition to this event, the show was announced on April 7 and April 14. The seventh features the heavyweight division and first appearance in the women’s featherweight division. The Giants are led by 2022 champions Ante DeLiga (23-5) and Jorgan de Castro (9-3).
There will be many eyes on the women’s featherweight fight. 2022 Lightweight Champion Larissa Pacheco (19-4) will face former Bellator Featherweight Champion Julia Budd (16-5). Pacheco shocked the world after he handed Kayla Harrison her first professional loss last year.
In this win for Pacheco, she took the lightweight title. As the promotion seeks higher levels of competition, they are ditching the women’s lightweight division in favor of the featherweight division for the season.
The April 14 PFL event will feature the lightweights and welterweights. In the main event, 2022 lightweight champion Olivier Aubin-Mercier (17-5) will face the debuting Shane Burgos (15-3).
Burgos was a massive signing for the promotion and one that Dana White truly regrets. Burgos was a contender at featherweight and is now moving up to lightweight for the season. OAM dominated the 2022 season with three decisive wins and a decisive knockout over Stevie Ray to win the tournament in November.
The fight announcements concluded 2022 Welterweight Champion Sadibo Sy (13-6-2) against Jarrah Hussain Al Silawi (18-4). All six of these battles are exciting and AD is giving its best to kick off the 2023 campaign.
