Heavyweights and featherweights sit atop the marquee as the Professional Fighters League on Thursday returns to Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas, for its second regular-season event of 2022. The lineup includes defending heavyweight champion Bruno Henrique Cappelozza at the top of the bill, as he attempts to repeat his remarkable 2021 run in a matchup with Stuart Austin. Meanwhile, two-time PFL champ Lance Palmer will look to regain some of his mojo following a winless 2021 campaign when he locks horns with featherweight finalist Chris Wade in an intriguing co-feature. PFL 2 includes other notables such as Renan Ferreira, Bubba Jenkins and Brendan Loughnane. The main card airs on ESPN2 and streams to ESPN+ at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, while the prelims stream to ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT.
Heavyweights
Bruno Henrique Cappelozza (14-5, 4-0 PFL) vs. Stuart Austin (15-7, 0-1 PFL)BETUS ODDS: Cappelozza (-650), Austin (+425)
Cappelozza is another example of the career-resurrecting power of the PFL. The former Jungle Fight champion entered the 2021 season having not competed since a July 2018 loss to Jiri Prochazka under the Rizin Fighting Federation banner, and the Brazilian proceeded to roll through Ante Delija, Muhammed DeReese and Jamelle Jones before surviving a back-and-forth battle in a rematch with the former to claim the PFL crown. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Cappelozza’s championship run was his five-round win over Delija, as it showed that the Corinthians MMA product is able to survive adversity and continue into deep waters when the accustomed quick knockout does not arrive. For the most part, however, Cappelozza is a fearsome finisher who has earned 13 of his 14 professional triumphs by knockout or technical knockout. He will use heavy leg kicks to immobilize his foes at range before picking his spot to unload heavy power punches. Once he senses a finish is imminent, Cappelozza will flurry with rapid-fire shots in a display that is not totally unlike Vitor Belfort in his heyday. Cappelozza’s menacing power is backed by a solid sprawl and an ability to do damage with ground-and-pound when he secures top position.
Austin, a onetime Elite MMA Championship and British Association of Mixed Martial Arts titleholder, had a PFL debut to forget, as he was starched by the aforementioned Ferreira in just 31 seconds. That continued a troubling trend in which the London native has been finished in short order by the majority of his high-level opposition. All told, six of his seven career defeats have come via knockout or technical knockout, which is not only the nature of the heavyweight division but also evidence of Austin being relatively hittable. Austin’s greatest claim to fame is a heel hook submission of UFC heavyweight prospect Tom Aspinall under the BAMMA banner in 2015—still the only legitimate defeat on Aspinall’s resume. Like any most any decent heavyweight, Austin has flashed knockout power on the regional circuit, but he also possesses a judo background and likes to execute throws and trips from the clinch. With that said, Austin’s title-winning victory over Satoshi Ishii at EMC 5 was controversial in large part because the Team Titan representative was controlled and outgrappled by the Japanese judoka for significant portions of the fight.
There is always the possibility that Austin is the next Cappelozza, set to put together life-changing run through the PFL for $1 million. However, a more likely outcome here is that “He-Man” will be outgunned on the feet and will not be able to wade through heavy fire to put his judo to use. Cappelozza by KO/TKO is the pick.
Continue Reading » Wade vs. Palmer
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