Fight Facts is a breakdown of all of the interesting information and cage curiosities on every card, with some puns, references and portmanteaus to keep things fun. These deep stat dives delve into the numbers, providing historical context and telling the stories behind those numbers.
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PFL 4 featured a prohibitive favorite scoring an easy stoppage, a heavyweight who has crept to the top of the record books and a late comeback finish for an aging star.
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TOTAL NUMBER OF PFL FIGHTS: 1,087
TOTAL NUMBER OF PFL EVENTS: 116
The
Professional Fighters League put heavyweights and women’s flyweights on display to commence the second half of the season, doing so in a familiar setting for
Bellator MMA faithful. The Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, brought mixed results and few shocking results given lopsided betting lines.
PFL 4: 2024 Regular Season featured a prohibitive favorite scoring an easy stoppage, a heavyweight who has crept to the top of the record books and a late comeback finish for an aging star.
It Was a Fight That Happened: Linton Vassell concluded the trilogy against
Valentin Moldavsky with two wins after handing the Russian a split decision loss. Although he beat Moldavsky in the regular season, it will be Moldavsky moving on to the playoffs due to his win in April.
In a Ditch: Cruising to a 12-0 record,
Dakota Ditcheva battered
Chelsea Hackett to the body to force a finish. The Manchester, England, native has seen 11 of her pro wins end inside the distance.
Covered in Petrol: With seven wins at 125 pounds, Ditcheva far and away holds the division’s record for most victories. Her seven finishes are also the most at the weight class, with no woman sporting more than two at flyweight.
On Fire: Ditcheva closed as a monumental -3300 betting favorite against Hackett and treated her opponent as such. She has closed with odds this higher or greater three times thus far in her PFL tenure, putting her two behind
Kayla Harrison’s record.
Shedding Bridesmaid Status: Making his 15th appearance under the
World Series of Fighting-PFL banner,
Denis Goltsov pounded out
Thiago Santos to claim the top seed at heavyweight. He joins a group of eight fighters to have fought that many times for the company, while becoming the first heavyweight to do so.
Quietest Records Ever Set: Of his 15 outings, 12 for Goltsov have resulted in victory. Four fighters in the history of the organization have earned more wins:
Natan Schulte (14), Harrison (15),
Lance Palmer (16) and
Magomed Magomedkerimov (17).
More Like Goldsov: Goltsov picked up his 10th stoppage as a PFL fighter by putting Santos away in the first round. He is one of three competitors in promotional history to amass this many finishes, along with
Ray Cooper III and Harrison.
She Pines for Someone New: Beating familiar foe
Kana Watanabe a second time,
Liz Carmouche landed a last-second armbar to end the season with seven points and a playoff berth. Her stoppage at 4:52 of Round 3 is the second-latest of any WSOF or PFL non-title tilt.
The Lone Six Point vs. Six Point Matchup at 125: Needing all three rounds to get past
Jena Bishop,
Taila Santos handed her foe her first pro loss, doing so by split decision. This marks the Brazilian’s first win on the scorecards since she outworked
Roxanne Modafferi in 2021.
Russian Methodical Nature: Pushing his win streak to 16 in a row,
Oleg Popov handled
Davion Franklin over the course of three rounds en route to a decision nod. While the FedorTeam fighter’s finish rate is well over 50%, he has reached the second round in seven straight outings.
Get to Work on That: In April,
Daniel James made history as the first PFL heavyweight to miss weight. Franklin now joins him in this illustrious club, having exceeded the 266-pound limit by two and a half pounds. Franklin lost a playoff point and dropped a decision, ending the 2024 season with negative points.
No Playoffs for Arizona Combat Sports: For the first time in his career,
Tyrell Fortune left the confines of Bellator as he fought and defeated
Marcelo Golm. The change was not as drastic for the 17-fight Bellator vet, due to the shared ownership of the two companies.
They Call Him Tim: With only one possible chance to earn points,
Tim Johnson made the most of his moment by punching out
Danilo Marques in the first round. The former interim Bellator title challenger claimed six points and the fourth seed in the heavyweight bracket.
A Day Late and a Point Short: Coming up one point beneath a playoff spot,
Juliana Velasquez settled for a five-point knockout of
Lisa Mauldin. It marked the Brazilian’s first knockout in nearly five years.
Never Say Never Again: Coming into PFL 2024 4, Hackett (seven fights) and Franklin (eight fights) had never dropped consecutive bouts, Santos had never competed at heavyweight (35 fights) and Watanabe had never been submitted (16 fights).
