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Check out these photos from the 2023 PFL 4 official weigh-ins in Atlanta.
Check out these photos from the fighters on the scale at the 2023 PFL 4 official weigh-ins in Atlanta. (Photos courtesy of PFL MMA)
Get the official weigh-in results for the fourth 2023 PFL regular season week in Atlanta, featuring feathweights and light heavyweights.
The PFL regular season continues Thursday with 2023 PFL 4, and all 12 fights are now set after the official weigh-ins.
The event, which takes place at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta, features featherweights and light heavyweights continuing their push toward the playoffs in an effort to capture the $1 million championship prize.
In the main event airing on ESPN, 2022 featherweight champion season winner [autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag] (26-4) takes on [autotag]Jesus Pinedo[/autotag] (20-6-1). Loughnane and Pinedo both made weight, stepping on the scale at 146. In the co-feature, undefeated [autotag]Movlid Khaybulaev[/autotag] (20-0-1) meets [autotag]Tyler Diamond[/autotag] (12-2). Khaybulaev weighed in at 146 while Diamond was 145.8.
Only one of 24 fighters scheduled to compete missed weight, as Ty Flores tipped the scale at 211.2 for his light heavyweight bout. The fight will proceed and Flores will forfeit 20 percent of his purse and enter the bout with a one point deduction. Everyone else will have an opportunity to earn full points in the divisional standings at the event.
Full 2023 PFL 4 official weigh-in results include:
MAIN CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6:30 p.m. ET)
*Alternate Jesse Stirn weighed in at 144.6
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL 2023, Week 4.
We want your predictions for Thursday’s PFL 2023, Week 4 event in Atlanta, which features featherweights and light heavyweights.
We want your predictions for Thursday’s PFL 2023, Week 4 event in Atlanta.
Our staff picks feature includes the consensus picks from MMA Junkie readers. Simply cast your vote for each bout below, and we’ll use the official tallies that are registered by Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. PT).
Those MMA Junkie reader consensus picks will be part of the PFL 2023, Week 4 main card staff predictions we release Wednesday ahead of the event. PFL 2023, Week 4 takes place Thursday at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. The main card airs on ESPN following prelims on ESPN+.
Make your picks for the fights below.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of 2023 PFL 4 in Atlanta.
The second half of the PFL’s regular season starts this week with 2023 PFL 4, which features featherweights and light heavyweights in action for the second time this year.
Here’s how to watch PFL 4, with a complete lineup and breakdown by division.
Rob Wilkinson is the 10th PFL fighter removed from the season after failing a drug test in Nevada.
[autotag]Rob Wilkinson[/autotag]’s attempt to repeat as PFL light heavyweight champion has come to an end.
According to multiple reports, Wilkinson has tested positive for a banned substance following a drug test administered by the Nevada Athletic Commission, which oversaw his most recent fight in April at 2023 PFL 1. As a result, Wilkinson is out for the rest of the season. It’s unclear what substance was found in Wilkinson’s system.
MMA Mania first reported the news Wednesday.
Wilkinson (18-2) is now the 10th PFL fighter facing sanctions in Nevada for a failed drug test following the promotion’s three-event stint in Las Vegas to open the regular season. The list of fighters who tested positive includes former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Thiago Santos, whom Wilkinson defeated by unanimous decision April 1 at PFL 1.
Wilkinson had been slated to fight Will Fleury in his second bout of the season.
Wilkinson, a two-fight UFC veteran who was TKO’d by Israel Adesanya, broke out in a big way in 2022, winning all four of his PFL fights by knockout, including a doctor stoppage TKO of Omari Akhmedov in the 205-pound final to win the championship and $1 million prize.
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To keep his playoff hopes alive, Chris Wade will take a kill-or-be-killed approach heading into 2023 PFL 4.
[autotag]Chris Wade[/autotag] will take a kill-or-be-killed approach heading into 2023 PFL 4.
Wade (22-9) meets [autotag]Ryoji Kudo[/autotag] (11-5-1) on June 8 at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. “The Long Island Killer” will look to rebound from his loss to Bubba Jenkins in the season opener at 2023 PFL 1.
In order to keep his playoff hopes alive, Wade could really use a finish. And that’s what he’s aiming for.
“I cannot afford to go down in some type of like slow, dragged out, back-and-forth, grappling-heavy situation,” Wade told MMA Junkie Radio. “I need to be OK with the risk of going out on my own shield. I told everybody, ‘I just want to let you know: Somebody’s going down. It’s me, or it’s him, but somebody’s going down.'”
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Wade has just seven career finishes, but two of them came in recent knockout wins over Kyle Bochniak and Arman Ospanov. He plans on digging deep into that version of himself.
“There’s another level,” Wade said. “This level is nothing. The place that I’m gonna take myself to is gonna be a special place. You can’t get there and go there all the time, but I promise you guys that. Watch this fight, because this is one where I need to leave my stamp and show the world what I’m capable of when I’m at my most aggressive, when I’m at my most motivated. When people write me off, when people turn their back on me, I thrive in that sh*t. I really do. And that’s the place I’m at right now.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2023 PFL 4.
Brendan Loughnane hopes his road to another PFL title goes through Movlid Khaybulaev.
[autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag] hopes his road to another PFL title goes through [autotag]Movlid Khaybulaev[/autotag].
Khaybulaev (20-0-1-1) is the only fighter to beat Loughnane (27-4) in the PFL, edging him out by split decision in the 2021 PFL semifinals. He went on to beat Chris Wade in the finals to win the season and featherweight title.
With Khaybulaev missing last year, Loughnane didn’t get a chance to cross paths with him en route to winning the featherweight title himself. But Loughnane would love the stars to align for a finals showdown with Khaybulaev this year.
“I’m just hoping that the standings for the semis are gonna lie where I actually get him in the final,” Loughnane told MMA Junkie Radio. “I would rather fight him over five rounds this time. I’m a five-round fighter. I just feel like I’ve got massive advantages in the fourth and fifth. So, I’m hoping that I get him over five, but if I have to do it over three, I’m not mad at that either.”
Both Loughnane and Khaybulaev were successful to kick off their 2023 PFL campaign. Loughnane stopped former UFC title challenger Marlon Moraes by TKO at PFL 1, and Khaybulaev scored a unanimous decision over Ryoji Kudo on the same night.
But it wasn’t Khaybulaev who impressed Loughnane in the season opener.
“The only person that stood out to me was Bubba Jenkins,” Loughnane said. “He looked really good against Chris Wade. Apart from that, not really, no. And that’s just being honest.”
Their campaign continues at 2023 PFL 4 on June 8 in Atlanta, where Loughnane is scheduled to face Jesus Pinedo, and Khaybulaev is booked against Daniel Torres.
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL 2023, Week 4.
Check out the full fight card lineup for 2023 PFL 4, which kicks off the next series of regular season events in Atlanta.
The 2023 PFL regular season continues June 8 with featherweights and light heavyweights in action.
Following the first three events of the season at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, the promotion settles in for its next series of events at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta, with each event airing live on ESPN and ESPN+. In a press release Wednesday, PFL officially announced the lineup for 2023 PFL 4.
The main event will see 2022 featherweight champion [autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag] takes on [autotag]Jesus Pinedo[/autotag]. At 2023 PFL 1, Loughnane (27-4 MMA, 9-1 PFL) began his 2023 season with a second-round stoppage of Marlon Moraes, while Pinedo (20-6-1 MMA, 0-1 PFL) lost a close split decision to Gabriel Braga.
Loughnane currently sits atop the featherweight standings with 5 points, with Bubba Jenkins, Movlid Khaybulaev, Alejandro Flores and Braga all tied with 3 points.
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The co-main bout takes place in the light heavyweight division, with 2022 champion [autotag]Rob Wilkinson[/autotag] facing [autotag]Will Fleury[/autotag]. Wilkinson (18-2 MMA, 0-2 PFL) was victorious in his first bout of the season, spoiling the debut of former UFC title challenger Thiago Santos by unanimous decision. Fleury (12-3 MMA, 2-0 PFL) was also successful in the first fight of the regular season, defeating Krzysztof Jotko by split decision.
Santos (22-12 MMA, 0-1 PFL) will look to snap his skid and get back on track at the event, as he faces Mohammad Fakhreddine (15-5 MMA, 0-1 PFL).
Marthin Hamlet and Josh Silveira both have 6 points atop the light heavyweight standings, with Ty Flores, Wilkinson and Fleury at 3 points.
The full 2023 PFL 4 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (ESPN)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+)
The 2023 PFL regular season schedule is complete as the promotion will head to Atlanta for the second straight year.
The PFL is headed back to Atlanta.
On Thursday, the promotion announced 2023 second-half regular season dates, all of which will take place at Overtime Elite Arena, a venue the promotion visited for the first time last season.
The three events are set for June 8, June 16, and June 23 and will feature the final regular season matchups for competitors across all six weight classes. The events will stream on ESPN and ESPN+.
The weight classes for each date are as follows:
𝐀𝐓𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐀! Get Ready! PFL returns to the @OvertimeElite Arena! #2023PFL4: June 8th#2023PFL5: June 16th#2023PFL6: June 23rd pic.twitter.com/2nm9anlZ0M
— PFL (@PFLMMA) March 9, 2023
The 2023 PFL regular season kicks off April 1 at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, where the first half of the regular season is scheduled to take place over the course of three consecutive weekends.
