In order to understand how strange and tense the Professional Fighters League welterweight regular season has been so far, you only need to know two things: One, the division contains one of the five greatest welterweights of all-time; and two, he’s in real danger of missing the playoffs. It’s been that kind of season.
Atop the welterweight standings sit Joao Zeferino, a previous two-division contender for WSOF who challenged Jon Fitch for the welterweight title there, and Magomed Magomedkerimov, another in the seemingly endless procession of high-level prospects from the Republic of Dagestan to enter North American MMA through WSOF/PFL. Both won their season-opening bouts via first-round stoppage, leaving them in a position to clinch playoff berths with a victory of any kind on Thursday.
There will be one new face in the PFL cage on Thursday; since Paul Bradley withdrew for unspecified reasons, his place will be filled by undefeated Carlton Minus. While “Clutch” was probably thrilled to receive the call-up, his jubilation may have faltered when he heard he had drawn 19-time Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran and longtime welterweight contender Rick Story as a debut opponent. “The Horror” will represent a colossal step up in competition for Minus, who has gone 9-0 entirely within his native Alaska.
The PFL regular season continues through August, with the playoffs scheduled to begin in October.
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