The PFL finals descend upon New York City as the 2022 Championships come to a close. Here are five reasons why you need to be watching on Friday night.
Kayla Harrison Looks to Win PFL Championship for the Third Time
In Friday’s main event, Kayla Harrison takes on Larissa Pacheco to become the 2022 PFL Women’s Lightweight champion in what is a trilogy fight between the two women. Harrison is looking to become a three-time PFL champ after already winning the 2019 and 2021 championships. The American is a world-class Judoka, winning Olympic gold on two occasions (London 2012 and Rio 2016). Since transitioning to MMA in 2018, she is 15-0 and will be considered by many purists as one of the best fighters in the world.
Larissa Pacheco’s opponent will be looking to avenge her former losses against Harrison and win the championship. She is on a five-fight finish streak, and the pressure won’t get to her, having been on a similar stage in 2019. The former TUF competitor also has the world-class experience, with her losses coming only to the best fighters on the planet – including Macy Chiasson, Jessica Andrade and Germaine De Randamie.
Manchester’s Brendan Loughnane Takes on Bubba Jenkins in the Featherweight Finals
The co-main event of the evening involves Brendan Loughnane, who takes on former Bellator man Bubba Jenkins. Loughnane will be looking to prove a lot of people wrong when he steps inside the cage on Friday night. He was notoriously rejected by Dana White despite a unanimous decision victory over Bill Algeo on Dana White’s Contender Series back in 2019. The Brit only has one loss since 2017, coming in last year’s semi-finals against Movlid Khaybulaev, but this will be his biggest test yet – this is the 32-year-old’s first major championship fight, and he will be looking to become the first UK PFL champion (as long as Stevie Ray doesn’t beat him to it) and claim the $1,000,0000 prize.
Although the man standing across from him will be no easy fight, Bubba Jenkins is on a three-fight winning streak, including a win over former UFC fighter Kyle Bochniak. The former Bellator fighter (record 8-3) could be looking to his NCAA Division 1 pedigree as a potential key to victory against Loughnane.
Two Former UFC Fighters Meet in the Lightweight Final
Stevie Ray takes on Olivier Aubin-Mercier in the finals for the lightweight championship. Stevie Ray is in red hot form, coming off the back of consecutive wins over former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, including a very impressive modified twister submission victory. The Scot struggled for form in the UFC but did manage to pick up good wins against Michael Johnson and Joe Lauzon, as well as a heel hook win over Paddy Pimblett in a 2019 Polaris grappling competition. “Braveheart” announced his retirement from MMA in 2020 but has since returned to the sport and found form under the PFL banner.
Similarly, his opponent Olivier Aubin-Mercier struggled for consistency while under contract at the UFC; however, his losses were against extremely high-level competition – Gilbert Burns and Arman Tsarukyan, to name a couple. Despite this, since his PFL debut in 2021, he is on a five-fight win streak and now finds himself in the lightweight finals with the $1,000,000 prize in his sights. The matchup looks set to be a grapplers delight, with both men holding strong pedigrees in the grappling department.
Marlon Moraes Returns to Mma in the ‘Moraes Derby’
In the final showcase bout of the night, Marlon Moraes returns to MMA against his namesake Sheymon Moraes, a rematch from their first fight in 2015 at WSOF – a fight that Marlon Moraes won via submission. “Magic” Marlon retired from MMA in April 2022 following a KO loss vs Song Yadong and is currently on a four-fight losing streak. He fought Henry Cejudo for the vacant UFC bantamweight title back in 2019 and also held a KO win over current
135lb UFC champion Aljamain Sterling. He believes that a return to fighting up a weight class will be the key to success. His opponent, Sheymon Moraes, is also a former UFC man – going 2-3 in the promotion. He is also coming off of a loss to Lance Palmer but is a very dangerous striker and could potentially use this as a key to victory in this fight. Marlon Moraes has lost all of his last four defeats by knockout.
Our Very Own Dakota Ditcheva Tries to Put a Stamp on PFL Flyweight Division
Dakota Ditcheva takes on Katherine Corogenes in the second fight of the night. Ditcheva, fighting out of Manchester, is one of the most promising UK talents currently outside of the UFC and her sophomore PFL fight comes off the back of a 58-second TKO victory in her debut back in August. The 24-year-old has been looking to former UFC strawweight queen Joanna Jędrzejczyk as a training partner over at American Top Team in Florida. She comes from a fighting family, with her mother, Lisa Howarth, being a former kickboxing champion, but she won’t let that pressure get the better of her. Her opponent, Katherine Corogenes, fights out of Phuket, Thailand and will be making her PFL debut in what is just her third professional fight.
Featured image credits to PFL
