TOTAL NUMBER OF PFL FIGHTS: 1,300
TOTAL NUMBER OF PFL EVENTS: 137
The
Professional Fighters League concluded the semifinals of its 2025 main tournament with a crop of a decisions and an ice pack on a big man’s groin. Middleweights, light heavyweights and heavyweights have finished their brackets, and finals loom for all eight divisions. The
2025 PFL World Tournament 7 Semifinals featured a Moldovan with a magnet in his cup, a buddy beating another buddy and the real potential for a two-time champ in August.
Let’s Do Better: With the 2025 semifinals of PFL’s World Tournament in the books, the eight divisions in play combined for 16 total bouts across three events, plus a few alternate matches. The results came in well below the company’s historical finish rate of about 51.5%. Just three of the 16 fights ended by stoppage, not counting the no contest.
The Family That Slays Together Stays Together: Of the 16 remaining combatants in the finals of their various divisions, roughly half hail from the former
Bellator MMA roster, depending on when the counting starts. Only one is a recently departed ex-
Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter.
Not Cool: Nine matches took place at PFL 2025 World Tournament 7, and the event concluded with a stoppage rate of 22.2%. This is tied with PFL 2024 9 for the lowest since the first event of PFL’s 2021 season, which had one of 10 bouts end inside the distance.
Almost Out of Brother’s Shadow: Fabian Edwards surpassed
Joshua Silveira to get to the final bout of the middleweight bracket. With he and
Dalton Rosta throwing down for $500K, it is the lone Bellator-on-Bellator tourney final coming in August.
Huge Feather in His Cap: To get to the final light heavyweight match of the tourney,
Sullivan Cauley outhustled
Phil Davis. Prior to this bout, Cauley sported a 100% finish rate. This marked his first bout to go to a decision, win or lose.
Bros Beating Bros: In a showcase bout,
Sergio Pettis battled and beat former teammate
Raufeon Stots on the scorecards. The former Bellator champ saw his stoppage rate diminish to just 33% as a professional.
Maple Syrup-Coated Revenge: Exacting revenge on
Aaron Jeffery, Rosta beat the mulleted Canadian by split decision. The fighter known as “Hercules” has reached the second round in nine straight outings.
Kneeface Is More Like It: “Shoeface”
Antonio Carlos Jr. reached the 205-pound finals by one-upping
Simeon Powell on the scorecards. He has a chance to become the first two-time light heavyweight tournament champ in company history, and join an illustrious group of seven combatants that claimed two tourney titles.
It Happened: Like Rosta, Powell has gone beyond Round 1 in his last nine outings. Unlike Rosta, the lanky Brit started his career with four first-round stoppages.
They Keep Hitting Me in the D--k: The sole fighter recently off the UFC roster,
Alexander Romanov’s night ended with a devastating knee to the groin from
Valentin Moldavsky that required a stretcher. His no contest is the first in the PFL ranks this year, and the first for an in-cage foul since 2022.
Why Do They Keep Hitting Me in the D--k? Romanov’s groin shot stoppage is not the first time one of his bouts has ended when he was kneed in the groin.
Juan Espino previously cup checked Romanov to force a technical decision. While Romanov won the decision against Espino, he can chalk up Moldavsky’s to a win as well as he advances to the finals on the tiebreaker first-round score.
Gibbed: Ronnie Gibbs defied the odds as a +1000 underdog to throttle
Biaggio Ali Walsh (-2000) with a consciousness-depriving arm-triangle choke. His betting upset stacks up as the second-largest in organizational history. In 2018,
Steven Siler at +1100 beat
Magomed Idrisov, also at -2000, which sits atop the leaderboard.
READ HERE
The 2025 PFL World Tournament 7 Semifinals featured a Moldovan with a magnet in his cup, a buddy beating another buddy and the real potential for a two-time champ in August.
www.sherdog.com
Leon's perfectly acceptable but Fabian crosses that line.
