Tag: PFL 2021: Week 2

Curtis Millender steps in to fight Rory MacDonald at PFL 2021, Week 2 on April 29

Curtis Millender has the biggest opportunity of his career in front of him.

[autotag]Curtis Millender[/autotag] has the biggest opportunity of his career in front of him.

On Thursday, a person with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Junkie that Millender will step in to fight [autotag]Rory MacDonald[/autotag] at PFL 2021, Week 2. The person requested anonymity since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

Millender, who’s competed for both the UFC and Bellator, accepted the short-notice welterweight fight for April 29 after MacDonald’s original opponent, David Michaud, revealed earlier Thursday that a heart condition will likely force him to retire from MMA.

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After a three-fight stint in LFA, Millender (18-6) was signed to the UFC and made his promotional debut in February 2018, knocking out former welterweight title challenger Thiago Alves. Millender got off to a 3-0 start in the UFC before losing back-to-back fights and parting ways with the promotion. He returned to Bellator for two fights and split them, beating Moses Murrietta and losing to Sabah Homasi in most recent bout last August.

MacDonald (21-6-1), a former UFC title challenger and Bellator champion, signed with the PFL in early 2020 and has waited more than a year to make his debut after the promotion canceled last season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

PFL 2 takes place April 29 at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J., with a main card on ESPN2 and prelims on ESPN+.

With the change, the PFL 2 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (ESPN 2, 9 p.m. ET)

  • Rory MacDonald vs. Curtis Millender
  • Ray Cooper III vs. Jason Ponet
  • Antonio Carlos Junior vs. Tom Lawlor
  • Chris Camozzi vs. Emiliano Sordi

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 5:30 p.m. ET)

  • Magomed Magomedkerimov vs. Joao Zeferino
  • Vinny Magalhaes vs. Jordan Young
  • Cezar Ferreira vs. Nick Roehrick
  • Aleksei Kunchenko vs. Gleison Tibau
  • Nikolay Aleksakhin vs. Sadibou Sy
  • Marthin Hamlet vs. Dan Spohn

PFL’s David Michaud says heart condition has him out of Rory MacDonald fight – and likely into retirement

David Michaud was getting ready for what likely was going to be the biggest fight of his career. Now it appears his career might be over.

[autotag]David Michaud[/autotag] was getting ready for what likely was going to be the biggest fight of his career. Now it appears his career might be over.

Michaud (18-6) was set to fight former Bellator champion [autotag]Rory MacDonald[/autotag] (21-6-1) on April 29 in the main event of the PFL’s second show of the year as part of the start of welterweight regular season. But Thursday, Michaud posted on Twitter that a heart condition recently discovered has taken him out of the fight.

But not only that, the 32-year-old said the condition is likely to mean the end of his fighting career.

“So this is gonna be a tough post. After multiple tests on my heart including a Cardiac MRI and talking with multiple Cardiologists, I have been informed that I got a bad ticker,” Michaud posted on Twitter. “I have a Congenital bicuspid aortic valve with dilated aortic root. Unfortunately I was born with this

“because of the dilation of the aorta, fighting puts me at risk for an aortic dissection — a tear in the aorta. That would be fatal under almost all circumstances. For this reason I will not be able to fight Rory Macdonald on April 29th, and unless anything changes, ever again.”

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Michaud, from South Dakota, reached the 2019 PFL welterweight playoff final, but was stopped with a second-round TKO by $1 million winner Ray Cooper III. To reach that final, he won decisions against fellow UFC veterans John Howard and Glaico Franca on the same night in October 2019.

If it indeed is the end of the line for Michaud, he’ll exit the sport with 18 career wins, including 14 stoppages.

He turned pro in 2009, and by 2012 he was on Season 16 of “The Ultimate Fighter.” And while things didn’t work out for him on the show, he built back up and was in the UFC by 2014. He went 2-2 in the promotion, then found himself trying to work his way back to the big leagues with fights for RFA, Titan FC, LFA and Bellator before signing with PFL for the 2019 inaugural season.

PFL officials have not yet made a formal announcement about Michaud’s withdrawal, or who will step in to fight MacDonald in the welterweight main event.

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Antonio Carlos Junior signs with PFL, debuts against Tom Lawlor

“The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3” winner and former Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Antonio Carlos Junior has signed with the PFL.

“The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3” winner and former Brazilian jiu -jitsu world champion [autotag]Antonio Carlos Junior[/autotag] has signed with the PFL.

The 13-time UFC veteran will join the promotion’s upcoming 2021 season as a light heavyweight and is expected to face [autotag]Tom Lawlor[/autotag] on April 29 at PFL 2021, Week 2, replacing [autotag]Jordan Johnson[/autotag], who withdrew from the initial booking.

As with all of the PFL’s upcoming regular season event, the card takes place at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J. The night’s main card airs on ESPN2 following prelims on ESPN+.

MMA Junkie learned of the plans from two people with knowledge of the deal who asked to remain anonymous because the organization has yet to officially announce the signing.

Carlos Junior (10-5) won “TUF: Brazil 3” as a heavyweight in 2014, then fought once at light heavyweight in the UFC before moving down to middleweight for the remainder of his octagon run. The dangerous grappler picked up five of his seven career octagon victories via rear-naked choke, including a stretch of three consecutive wins over Eric Spicely, Jack Marshman and Tim Boetsch. However, his UFC run ended earlier this year following decision losses to Ian Heinisch, Uriah Hall and Brad Tavares.

Meanwhile, Lawlor (10-7) returns to action for the first time since suffering a unanimous decision loss to current UFC middleweight Deron Winn under the Golden Boy MMA banner in November 2018. Prior to that, Lawlor, who was still under contract with the UFC, served a two-year suspension that stemmed from a positive test for ostarine.

Denying any intentional wrongdoing, Lawlor was released from his UFC contract two months before his suspension ended. While serving his time, Lawlor tried his hand at pro wrestling, becoming a star for the Major League Wrestling promotion.

With the change to the card, the PFL 2021, Week 2 lineup now includes:

MAIN CARD (ESPN2, 9 p.m. ET)

  • Rory MacDonald vs. David Michaud
  • Ray Cooper III vs. Jason Ponet
  • Antonio Carlos Junior vs. Tom Lawlor
  • Chris Camozzi vs. Emiliano Sordi

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 5:30 p.m. ET)

  • Magomed Magomedkerimov vs. Joao Zeferino
  • Smealinho Rama vs. Jordan Young
  • Cezar Ferreira vs. Nick Roehrick
  • Aleksei Kunchenko vs. Gleison Tibau
  • Nikolay Aleksakhin vs. Sadibou Sy
  • Marthin Hamlet vs. Dan Spohn

PFL 2021, Week 2: Rory MacDonald set for debut as welterweight, light heavyweight seasons begin

Former Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald will make his PFL debut against 2019 season runner-up David Michaud on April 29.

Hot on the heels of the PFL’s announcement of this season’s curtain-raiser, the promotion has confirmed its lineup for its second round of bouts.

PFL 2021, Week 2 takes place on Thursday, April 29 and features a 10-fight card headlined by one of the promotion’s biggest new signings.

Former Bellator welterweight champion and UFC title challenger [autotag]Rory MacDonald[/autotag] will make his promotional debut in the night’s main event against 2019 welterweight season runner-up [autotag]David Michaud[/autotag].

MacDonald (21-6-1) won and twice defended the Bellator 170-pound title during a six-fight stint with the promotion, but he lost his belt in a rematch with Douglas Lima in his final bout with the organization at Bellator 232.

MacDonald subsequently explored free agency and signed a deal with PFL, and he will kick off the latest chapter in his career against Michaud (18-6), who has lost just twice since the summer of 2017.

His 2019 PFL campaign started with a 17-second body-kick knockout loss to Sadibou Sy, but he bounced back to register three successive wins over Handesson Ferreira, John Howard, and Glaico Franca to earn a spot in the welterweight season final. He lost out to [autotag]Ray Cooper III[/autotag] via second-round TKO and will be looking to bounce back with a statement win over MacDonald.

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The PFL’s 2019 welterweight and light heavyweight champions are both set for action on the card, with 170-pound champion Cooper (20-7-1) facing French contender [autotag]Jason Ponet[/autotag] (20-12-1) in the co-main event, while 205-pound champion [autotag]Emiliano Sordi[/autotag] (22-8) will kick off the defense of his crown against former UFC veteran [autotag]Chris Camozzi[/autotag] (25-14) in the main card opener.

The main card also features a light heavyweight battle between 2019 205-pound runner-up [autotag]Jordan Johnson[/autotag] (12-2-1) and promotional newcomer [autotag]Tom Lawlor[/autotag] (10-7), while 2018 welterweight champion [autotag]Magomed Magomedkerimov[/autotag] (27-5) will look to establish his championship credentials in 2021 after injury curtailed his title defense in the 2019 season. He will take on Brazil’s [autotag]Joao Zeferino[/autotag] (24-9) in the night’s featured preliminary card bout.

PFL 2 takes place at a venue to be confirmed. The event will air on ESPN2 following prelims on ESPN+. Further regular season events will follow on May 6, and June 10, 17, and 25.

The full PFL 2 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (ESPN 2)

  • Rory MacDonald vs. David Michaud
  • Ray Cooper III vs. Jason Ponet
  • Jordan Johnson vs. Tom Lawlor
  • Chris Camozzi vs. Emiliano Sordi

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+)

  • Magomed Magomedkerimov vs. Joao Zeferino
  • Smealinho Rama vs. Jordan Young
  • Cezar Ferreira vs. Nick Roehrick
  • Aleksei Kunchenko vs. Gleison Tibau
  • Nikolai Aleksakhin vs. Sadibou Sy
  • Marthin Hamlet vs. Daniel Spohn

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