It’d be easy to look at [autotag]Logan Storley[/autotag]’s resume on paper and assign him the old MMA adage that he’s had an “up-and-down run” of late.
After a 11-0 start to his career, including a 6-0 start in Bellator, Storley lost a split call to Yaroslav Amosov in a pandemic-era fight. But just three bouts later, he found himself in an interim title fight – and with hardware around his waist with a split decision over Michael Page.
He met Amosov again in a welterweight title unifier, though, and again came up short. Once Bellator transitioned to the PFL, Storley hopped in the 2024 $1 million season as an early favorite to win it all. But Shamil Musaev knocked him out in a stunning result 11 months ago. And when he bounced back later in the season, it wasn’t enough to make the playoffs.
So true, 5-3 with two title fight losses is “up and down” of late. But it’s done nothing to curb Storley’s enthusiasm for what he thinks he can do in 2025 in the PFL, where he’ll take a new shot at a welterweight crown.
“My three losses are Amosov twice – at the time, he was undefeated at 26-0 – and the other one was Musaev, who was 20-0. My three losses were world champs at the time who were undefeated. We know we’re right there,” Storley told MMA Junkie Radio.
“We’ve made a lot of strides. I was not happy with the way I performed last season. That first loss, obviously he’s a very, very good guy. We just made some mistakes. We went back to the drawing board and really went back to drilling basics and adding new things and being ready to show the new me and have the little things really, really refined – and be great at those things.”
Storley (16-3) will put those refinements to the test against Magomed Umalatov (17-1) in the opening round of the PFL’s 2025 welterweight tournament. It’s no longer a situation in which he’ll be fighting for points and a playoff spot. It’s single elimination, so he has to win now when they meet April 3 in Orlando, Fla.
Storley wrestled collegiately at the University of Minnesota, where he was a four-time NCAA Division-I All-American. Early on in his career, he mostly was associated with being a protege of sorts for former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, who acted as a mentor for him in high school.
But soon into his MMA career, it was evident he had little issue with the transition from wrestling to an expanded combat sports pursuit. And he knew he was on the right path because if he wrestled his whole life, he knew it was for the love of the game.
“Obviously, we’re prize fighters. We compete for money and we all have families and people to provide for,” Storley said. “But I guess for me it’s really, really cementing and chasing the goal of being the greatest. You didn’t get into wrestling for money – you got a scholarship (to college). If you were lucky enough to get a scholarship to pay for college, that’s a huge thing to get. But we knew when it was over, we weren’t going to the NFL, we weren’t getting cars, we weren’t getting watches, we weren’t on TV that much. We did it for the love, the pursuit, to be the best.”
That’s the mentality Storley will take into his fight with Umalatov, who trains at American Top Team – the unofficial South Florida training rival of Storley’s home at Kill Cliff FC.
At 32, Storley has tasted the mountaintop and is hopeful he’ll get back there, if only so it helps his place in history.
“It’s a journey,” he said. “That’s something I’ve been very blessed in my fighting career to be taken care of. I’ve had great fights and got to make money. Now it’s to really cement my legacy and put up the greatest performances I can while I’m still fighting, and be happy that when I’m ready to be done, that I can look back and I gave it 100 percent effort the whole time.”