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TOTAL NUMBER OF PFL FIGHTS: 623
TOTAL NUMBER OF PFL EVENTS: 63
The Professional Fighters League commenced the second half of its 2021 regular season with an event capped off by a non-tourney tilt. Lightweights and featherweights were largely on display as competitors vied for playoff spots, although a few matches to seal the divisions will take place in a few weeks. PFL 4: 2021 Regular Season featured a boxing crossover comeback for the ages, one of the few perfect fighters on the roster hanging on by a thread and an increasingly rare kimura.
Welcome to MMA: Putting Brittney Elkin away in the third round in a comeback effort, Claressa Shields made good in her MMA debut by earning the eighth knockout among female fighters in company history.
Light Weight, Heavy Power: Six of the eight knockouts among women have now come at the lightweight division; three of those courtesy of Kayla Harrison.
Leeroy Jenkins: Snagging a decision over Bobby Moffett, Bubba Jenkins earned his fifth consecutive win and qualified for the playoffs in the process. In victory, Jenkins set a new personal record for most wins in a row.
The One That Got Away: A majority decision for Brendan Loughnane allowed him to stay perfect as a PFL fighter, going 4-0 with the league after beating Tyler Diamond. Loughnane is now one of four fighters on the active roster that have not lost, joining Magomed Magomedkerimov (9-0), Harrison (8-0) and Ali Isaev (5-0).
He’ll Make the Playoffs Somehow: After three hard-fought rounds, Natan Schulte won a close decision over Alex Martinez. In doing so, Schulte scored his 10th win inside the World Series of Fighting-PFL cage, becoming the fifth fighter in company history to achieve that feat.
Scrappy Schulte: The appearance for Schulte is his 13th with the promotion, keeping him with the second-most bouts in organizational history.
Taking the Arm as a Souvenir: At the last second of Round 2, Sheymon Moraes hit a kimura on Jesse Stirn to earn five points and a potential playoff berth. Moraes notched just the fourth kimura in promotional history, and the first in just over two years.
No Time to Lose: The stoppage coming at the 4:59 mark, it is the second stoppage at this time in any WSOF-PFL round. The first was Ali Isaev’s semifinal-winning knockout of Denis Goltsov in 2019 at 4:59 of the final frame.
Paws Made for Punching: In 27 seconds, Loik Radzhabov put Akhmed Aliev away with a swarm of punches. “Jaguar Paw” recorded the eighth-quickest finish in WSOF-PFL history.
Lights Out Loik: That 27-second knockout for Radzhabov is also good for the second-fastest among lightweights with the company. Nick Browne’s 25-second drubbing of Sidney Outlaw at WSOF 13 in 2014 holds the top spot in the division.
Well, That’s New: In the card opener, Chris Wade scored the first knockout victory of his career by clocking Arman Ospanov with a head kick and follow-up punches. All of his other stoppage victories have come by either rear-naked choke or guillotine choke.
Tourney Regular: The fight for Wade marked his 11th with the company, and all 11 have taken place in the PFL cage. “The Long Island Killer” is now tied for the third-most bouts in promotional history with Jared Rosholt, Marlon Moraes, Ray Cooper III and Vinny Magalhaes.
Never Say Never Again: Coming into PFL 4: 2021 Regular Season, Martinez had never been defeated (nine fights), Moraes had never landed a submission (16 fights) and Ospanov had never competed in the U.S. (14 fights).