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Check out these photos from Marina Mokhnatkina vs. Evelyn Martins at 2023 PFL 5 in Atlanta.
Check out these photos from [autotag]Marina Mokhnatkina[/autotag]’s victory over Evelyn Martins at 2023 PFL 5 at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. (Photos courtesy of Cooper Neill, PFL MMA)
Denis Goltsov didn’t need much time to lock in his 2023 PFL playoff spot, as he quickly finished Yorgan De Castro in Atlanta.
[autotag]Denis Goltsov[/autotag] secured his place in the 2023 PFL playoffs, and needed just a few seconds to do it.
In the final preliminary bout at 2023 PFL 5 at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta, Goltsov (31-7) quickly took care of business against Yorgan De Castro (9-5). The walkoff celebration was on after landing a right hand that stiffened and dropped De Castro just 18 seconds into the fight.
Goltsov peppered De Castro with left jabs immediately. De Castro fired off a right leg kick, but another left jab came in return, and so did the finishing right hand behind it.
Check out video of the finish below (via Twitter):
DENIS GOLTSOV IS A PROBLEM!
Goltsov locks up his #PFLPlayoffs spot and the #1 seed!#PFLRegularSeason LIVE NOW
🇺🇸 ESPN+
🌎 https://t.co/jPNvomD5xg pic.twitter.com/LYIN9p7rXK— PFL (@PFLMMA) June 17, 2023
The first-round finish earned Goltsov six more points and clinched a playoff spot. He currently sits at the top of the leaderboard in the heavyweight division with 12 total points. Goltsov also racked up six points in his first fight of the season, by finishing Cezar Ferreira at 2023 PFL 3 in April.
De Castro has been eliminated from the playoffs, as he needed a first or second-round finish of his own to be in contention.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL 2023, Week 5.
Check out these photos from Marcelo Nunes vs. Danilo Marques at 2023 PFL 5 in Atlanta.
Check out these photos from Marcelo Nunes’ victory over Danilo Marques at 2023 PFL 5 at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. (Photos courtesy of Cooper Neill, PFL MMA)
Check out these photos from Julia Budd vs. Martina Jindrova at 2023 PFL 5 in Atlanta.
Check out these photos from [autotag]Julia Budd[/autotag]’s victory over Martina Jindrova at 2023 PFL 5 at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. (Photos courtesy of Cooper Neill, PFL MMA)
Check out these photos from Olena Kolesnyk vs. Yoko Higashi at 2023 PFL 5 in Atlanta.
Check out these photos from Olena Kolesnyk’s victory over Yoko Higashi at 2023 PFL 5 at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. (Photos courtesy of Cooper Neill, PFL MMA)
Check out these photos from Jordan Heiderman vs. Patrick Brady at 2023 PFL 5 in Atlanta.
Check out these photos from Jordan Heiderman’s victory over Patrick Brady at 2023 PFL 5 at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. (Photos courtesy of Cooper Neill, PFL MMA)
Check out these photos from Isaiah Pinson vs. Denzel Freeman at 2023 PFL 5 in Atlanta.
Check out these photos from[autotag] Isaiah Pinson[/autotag]’s victory over Denzel Freeman at 2023 PFL 5 at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. (Photos courtesy of Cooper Neill, PFL MMA)
Check out these photos from the 2023 PFL 4 ceremonial weigh-ins and fighter faceoffs in Atlanta
Check out these photos from the 2023 PFL 5 ceremonial weigh-ins and fighter faceoffs in Atlanta. (Photos courtesy of Cooper Neill, PFL MMA)
As it stands, Bellator and PFL are rival promotions, but that could soon change, Scott Coker confirmed.
CHICAGO – The rumors just might be true.
Bellator president Scott Coker confirmed Thursday to MMA Junkie and other reporters that the promotion and parent company Viacom are exploring options for a potential business partnership. Additionally, Coker confirmed that rival promotion PFL is one of the companies in discussion.
“We’ve been out there,” Coker said following Bellator 297 ceremonial faceoffs. “Bellator has been looking to take a partner. That’s really been Viacom that’s been handling that. So we’ll see where that nets out. We’ll probably have some clarity in the next 60 to 90 days.”
“… (PFL) is definitely in the conversation. There’s a couple conversations going on right now with Viacom and other companies. PFL is definitely one of them.”
There’s been much buzz about a potential sale and/or merger in recent months since a YouTube video posted by The Todd Atkins Show surfaced on social media. But Thursday was the first time Coker or anyone from Bellator confirmed some truth to it. UFC president Dana White recently mentioned he’d heard of the potential sale, too, during a post-fight news conference after one of his events.
Coker declined to go into further detail, saying a deal would have to be figured out first.
“Let’s just wait to see what happens,” Coker said. “It could go a lot of different ways.”‘
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 297.
Check out our staff members’ picks for the PFL Week 5 main card in Atlanta.
| Delija vs. Greene |
Leibrock vs. Pacheco |
Ladd vs. Sobek |
Ferreira vs. Scheffel |
|
| MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 89-55 |
 Delija (82%) |
 Pacheco (90%) |
 Ladd (76%) |
 Ferreira (73%) |
| Matt Erickson @MattE 94-50 |
Delija |
Pacheco |
Ladd |
Ferreira |
| Nolan King @mma_kings 91-53 |
Delija |
Pacheco |
Ladd |
Ferreira |
| Matthew Wells @MrMWells 90-54 |
Delija |
Pacheco |
Ladd |
Ferreira |
| Simon Samano @SJSamano 90-54 |
Delija |
Pacheco |
Ladd |
Ferreira |
| George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 87-57 |
Delija |
Pacheco |
Ladd |
Ferreira |
| Mike Bohn @MikeBohn 85-59  2014 Champion |
Delija |
Pacheco |
Ladd |
Ferreira |
| Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway -84-60 2018, 2022 Champion |
Delija |
Pacheco |
Ladd |
 Scheffel |
| Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 83-61 |
Delija |
Pacheco |
Ladd |
Ferreira |
| Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 81-63 |
Delija |
Pacheco |
Ladd |
Ferreira |
| Brian Garcia @thegoze 79-65 2017 Champion |
Delija |
Pacheco |
Ladd |
Ferreira |
| Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 78-66 |
Delija |
Pacheco |
Ladd |
Ferreira |
The PFL’s regular season continues this week with the second of three straight events in Atlanta.
PFL 2023, Week 5 takes place Friday at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. The main card airs on ESPN following prelims on ESPN+.
(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)
Week 5 features women’s featherweights and heavyweights looking to punch their tickets to the postseason. The main card features Ante Delija vs. Maurice Greene and Renan Ferreira vs. Matheus Scheffel at heavyweight and Amber Leibrock vs. 2022 season winner Larissa Pacheco and Aspen Ladd vs. Karolina Sobek.
Check out all the picks above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL 2023, Week 5.
