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Check out these photos from Valentin Moldavski’s victory over Ante Delija at 2024 PFL 1 in San Antonio.
Check out these photos from [autotag]Valentin Moldavsky[/autotag]’s TKO victory over Ante Delija at 2024 PFL 1, which took place at Boeing Center in San Antonio. (Photos by Cooper Neill, PFL MMA)
The 2024 PFL 1 main event ended quickly as Valentin Moldavsky poured it on Ante Delija for a first-round stoppage.
[autotag]Valentin Moldavsky[/autotag] arrived in style under the PFL banner Thursday as he pummeled [autotag]Ante Delija[/autotag] en route to a first-round finish.
The heavyweight bout headlined 2024 PFL 1 at Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio. Moldavsky (13-3) finished Delija (24-6) with punches for a stoppage at 2:17 of Round 1.
With legendary Russian heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko in his corner, Moldavsky showed off a strike-heavy approach. Delija appeared uncomfortable in the minute leading up to the finish, as he glanced at his corner, potentially indicating an injury. PFL president Ray Sefo later revealed Delija suffered a torn groin muscle (h/t MMA Mania).
That didn’t hold back Moldavsky, who continually marched forward and served up a healthy platter of punches until Delija covered up against the cage. The intensity and frequency of punches increased until referee Jacob Montalvo waved off the fight.
With the victory, Moldavsky pocketed six points in the heavyweight regular season standings. He finished out the night as the division’s leader.
QUICK WORK FOR VALENTIN! He goes straight to the top of the Heavyweight standings!#PFLRegularSeason pic.twitter.com/7ZJLkP8upp
— PFL (@PFLMMA) April 5, 2024
Moldavsky, 32, is a former Bellator interim heavyweight champion. He went 7-2 under the promotion’s banner prior to his entrance into the PFL regular season.
Delija, 33, has a five-fight winning streak snapped. He was the promotion’s 2022 heavyweight champion but only competed once in the 2023 season prior to injury.
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The up-to-the-minute 2024 PFL 1 results include:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2024 PFL 1.
Ante Delija turned to the UFC interim heavyweight champion for some training sessions before the PFL regular season got underway.
[autotag]Ante Delija[/autotag] recently spent time training with UFC interim heavyweight champion [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag].
Delija (24-5) takes on Valentin Moldavsky (12-3-1) in Thursday’s 2024 PFL 1 (ESPN2, ESPN+) main event, which takes place at Boeing Center in San Antonio.
The 2022 PFL heavyweight champion was in the U.K. a couple of months ago to get some work in with Aspinall and had nothing but praise for him.
“I trained with Tom Aspinall before my training camp,” Delija said through an interpreter during the 2024 PFL 1 media day. “I was impressed with his physical strength, and also he’s very, very technical. His father has been training him since he was a kid, so he deserves the place where he’s in right now.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/C3kmuuHNP17/?igsh=MThkc29pN2NnZDM2Mg%3D%3D&fbclid=IwAR1XMnFh35VrIRA2YMheE6rMt3yzGkC_8gXDkwhx0yXtMapbku2Kkyv1Ao4_aem_AZRyOsw0vAxCRbklufbj7OlD_Op3pf2KmTR5siqMgALSwjCgH_F-hFfR7xJ-N9BHwLFm0OzP9iA4YZYoiT9dK1H5
With PFL acquiring Bellator, Delija has plenty of new options for opponents – especially after competing in two rematches already with the PFL.
“Of course I’m looking forward to new faces,” Delija said. “I’m in my prime, and I want to fight as many best competitions as I can get in my way.”
You can watch the full media day with Delija in the video above.
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2024 PFL 1.
Watch the fighters step on the scale and their faceoffs at the 2024 PFL 1 ceremonial weigh-ins in San Antonio.
The 2024 PFL 1 ceremonial weigh-ins take place Wednesday, and you can watch a live stream of the festivities right here on MMA Junkie.
PFL 1, which takes place Saturday at Boeing Center in San Antonio, features heavyweights and the newly added women’s flyweight division kicking off their regular seasons. The heavyweight main event pits [autotag]Ante Delija[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Valentin Moldavsky[/autotag], while the featured women’s flyweight has Bellator champ [autotag]Liz Carmouche[/autotag] taking on [autotag]Julianna Velasquez[/autotag] in a trilogy after Carmouche won the first two encounters.
You can watch the fighters step on the scale and their faceoffs in the video above.
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL 2024, Week 1.
Check out the disclosed 2023 PFL 5 fighter pays released by the state of Georgia.
PFL returned to Atlanta this past Thursday for the second of three shows in consecutive weeks at Overtime Elite Arena.
2023 PFL 5 featured final regular season bouts at heavyweight and women’s featherweight, as well as a showcase fight. In the main event, 2022 PFL heavyweight champion [autotag]Ante Delija[/autotag] defeated former UFC fighter and Jon Jones teammate [autotag]Maurice Greene[/autotag].
Also on the card was 2022 PFL women’s lightweight champion [autotag]Larissa Pacheco[/autotag], former Bellator women’s featherweight champion [autotag]Julia Budd[/autotag], and former UFC notable [autotag]Aspen Ladd[/autotag].
MMA Junkie acquired a list of the 22 pro athletes’ disclosed payouts Sunday from the Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission. The amounts do not include bonuses, sponsorships, or any other discretionary payments.
Six fighters topped the list at $100,000, while all other fighters received five-figure or four-figure payouts.
Scroll below to see the disclosed pay for each 2023 PFL 5 fighter.
Check out these photos from Ante Delija vs. Maurice Greene at 2023 PFL 5 in Atlanta.
Check out these photos from [autotag]Ante Delija[/autotag]’s victory over Maurice Greene at 2023 PFL 5 at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. (Photos courtesy of Cooper Neill, PFL MMA)
2023 PFL 5 took place Friday in Atlanta to complete the heavyweight and women’s featherweight playoff brackets.
2023 PFL 5 took place Thursday and MMA Junkie provided live and official results throughout the entire card.
The event featured heavyweights and women’s featherweight bouts that took place at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. The main card aired on ESPN at 10 p.m. ET following prelims on ESPN+ beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET.
In the main event, 2022 heavyweight season winner [autotag]Ante Delija[/autotag] (24-5) took on [autotag]Maurice Greene[/autotag] (11-8). Delija competed for the first time in 2023 after withdrawing from his first scheduled bout of the season at 2023 PFL 2 in April. At the same event, Greene picked up a second-round stoppage win over Marcelo Nunes to earn five points in the standings.
In the co-feature, 2022 women’s featherweight season winner [autotag]Larissa Pacheco[/autotag] (21-4) met [autotag]Amber Leibrock[/autotag] (7-8). In her first fight of the season, Pacheco picked up a unanimous decision win over Julia Budd at 2023 PFL 2. Leibrock recorded a first-round finish of Martina Jindrova to earn six points, entering this event as the leader in the division.
Full 2023 PFL 5 results include:
Check out the full weigh-in results for 2023 PFL 5, which had one miss out of 24 fighters competing.
All 24 fighters competing at 2023 PFL 5 stepped on the scale, but not all made weight.
At Thursday’s official weigh-ins, only one fighter was unable to reach the contracted weight – [autotag]Evelyn Martins[/autotag]. She came in at 147 pounds, one over the allowance for the women’s featherweight division. Martins will get a point deducted from the result of the fight, and her opponent [autotag]Marina Mokhnatkina[/autotag] will also receive 20 percent of Martins’s purse.
Everyone one else on the card made weight, including the heavyweight main event between [autotag]Ante Delija[/autotag] and [autotag]Maurice Greene[/autotag], as well as the co-main event of [autotag]Larissa Pacheco[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Amber Leibrock[/autotag].
2023 PFL 5 takes place Friday at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. The main card airs on ESPN following prelims on ESPN+
Below you can find the full results from the weigh-ins:
MAIN CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6:30 p.m. ET)
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL 2023, Week 5.
Randy Couture thinks Ante Delija would make a great debut opponent for former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in the PFL.
[autotag]Randy Couture[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Ante Delija[/autotag] would make a great debut opponent for [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] in the PFL.
Ngannou signed with PFL and is expected to box first, then make his MMA return in mid-2024. The former UFC heavyweight champion has been unstoppable as of late – including a recent knockout win over the consensus greatest heavyweight of all time, Stipe Miocic.
But whom should Ngannou (17-3) face in his promotional debut? Couture says 2022 PFL heavyweight champ Delija (23-5) is a fight he’d definitely watch.
“Ante Delija won last year’s championship in stellar fashion and he was very highly touted when we signed him,” Couture told MMA Junkie Radio. “He struggled with the format early on, and I think he sorted it out.
“He figured out what he needed to do in his training, his preparation and his game planning to get through a whole regular season and make it to the playoffs and a championship, and that’s a fight I’d love to see. He’s a game fighter. He’s a solid, well-rounded fighter. Francis Ngannou and Ante Delija, that would be a great fight. I would watch that fight, and I would pay a pay-per-view to watch that fight.”
Fabricio Werdum and Ben Rothwell already bid to fight Ngannou, and Couture expects plenty of other heavyweights to put their hands up after “The Predator” negotiated a guaranteed $1 million purse for his opponents.
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With PFL striking a mega deal with Ngannou and its continuously running season format, Couture sees PFL impacting all the other promotions.
“There’s certainly a lot of heavyweights coming up in free agency that realize if they’re good enough and have the credentials to get into a fight with Francis, they’re guaranteed a better purse than anybody else is probably ever gonna offer them,” Couture said. “Which is a really, really unique and interesting thing that Francis negotiated for in his contract for sure. I think there’s a ripple effect. We already got the attention of a lot of the other promotions.
“Why did shortly after we started giving away million-dollar purses for our championship final every year did all of a sudden the grand prix launch in Bellator, all with million-dollar purses through their format? Obviously we’ve got guys like Jake Paul, certainly Jon Jones is still chirping about Francis and wanting to fight Francis. Whether or not that fight is going to happen, I think there’s a ripple effect.”
Brendan Loughnane vs. Marlon Moraes, Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Shane Burgos are among the big fights to open the 2023 PFL season.
The PFL on Thursday announced three headliners and three co-headlining fights for the first three events of the 2023 regular season, which will kick off April 1 and run for three consecutive weeks at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas.
At 2023 PFL 1 on April 1, reigning featherweight champion [autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag] (26-4) will headline against former UFC title challenger [autotag]Marlon Moraes[/autotag] (23-11-1). The co-main event will feature another former UFC title challenger as [autotag]Thiago Santos[/autotag] (22-11) takes on 2022 light heavyweight champion [autotag]Rob Wilkinson[/autotag] (17-2). The first event of the year is set to air on ESPN.
PFL 2 will take place April 7, headlined by 2022 PFL heavyweight champion [autotag]Ante Delija[/autotag] (23-5) taking on UFC veteran [autotag]Yorgan De Castro[/autotag] (9-3). The night’s co-main event will feature reigning women’s lightweight champion [autotag]Larissa Pacheco[/autotag] (19-4) taking on former Bellator champion [autotag]Julia Budd[/autotag] (16-5) in the promotion’s new women’s featherweight division. PFL 2 is set to air on ESPN 2.
Closing out the first half of the regular season with PFL 3 on April 14, the event will be headlined by reigning lightweight champion [autotag]Olivier Aubin-Mercier[/autotag] (17-5) welcoming UFC veteran [autotag]Shane Burgos[/autotag] (15-3), who was supposed to make his promotional debut last November but withdrew due to injury. The co-main event will pit 2022 welterweight champion [autotag]Sadibou Sy[/autotag] (13-6-2) against [autotag]Jarrah Al-Silawi[/autotag] (18-4). PFL 3 will air on ESPN 2.
Despite the official announcements by PFL, Malki Kawa of First Round Management, which represents Burgos and Loughnane, indicated on Twitter that his fighters had yet to agree to their respective bouts.
The pfl went and announced a bunch of fights that have no been agreed to. So hold up before you get excited about anything
— malki kawa (@malkikawa) February 2, 2023
The entire lineups for all three events will be announced at a later date.
As in years past, the champions of all six divisions following two regular season bouts and playoffs will claim the title and grand prize of $1 million.
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