Preview: 2022 PFL Championships

Welterweight Championship

Sadibou Sy (12-6-2, 6-4-2 PFL) vs. Dilano Taylor (10-2, 2-1 PFL)

ODDS: Sy (-160), Taylor (+130)

Sy has been with the PFL since 2018, but after some up-and-down campaigns, he enters his first championship final. The 35-year-old Swede is a technical striker with a counterpunching style that can sometimes result in long periods of inactivity—hence the number of close decisions on his ledger. That approach has worked well this year in the form of victories over Nikolay Aleksakhin, Rory MacDonald and Carlos Leal Miranda. In addition to a skilled jab and a variety of kicks, Sy’s takedown defense has improved to a point where even the likes of MacDonald struggled to get him to the canvas in their bout. While Sy does have body kick and head kick knockouts on his record in PFL competition, the spectacular is becoming less frequent as his career progresses.

Taylor is something of an unlikely entrant into the PFL final. He did not earn a contract on the PFL Challenger Series but managed to take advantage of a short-notice opportunity by besting Joao Zeferino via split decision in a regular-season appearance. After being steamrolled by Magomed Magomedkerimov in July, Taylor again stepped in on short notice, this time serving as a replacement for Magomed Umalatov against MacDonald. That was where “The Postman” turned heads with a first-round finish courtesy of a right cross and follow-up punches of the former Bellator champion and UFC title challenger. It is fair to wonder how much MacDonald had left in the tank, but it was nonetheless a potentially star-making performance for Taylor. The Sanford MMA product is 10 years younger than Sy, with better hand speed and a jab that is at least on par with his opponent’s. However, the 6-foot-3 Taylor is facing an adversary with the same height and a three-inch reach advantage.

If Taylor becomes tentative and allows Sy to wait for openings, the bout could become the exactly the type of closely contested fight in which the Swede has thrived. Taylor also has shown a penchant for throwing naked low kicks, which could play into Sy’s hands as a counterstriker. Overall, Sy is not a fighter who is easy to look good against, and it will be key for Taylor to use his speed, movement and jab to force the action and not fall behind on the scorecards. The best may still be yet to come for Taylor, but look for Sy to prevail in a narrow decision.

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Harrison vs. Pacheco
Loughnane vs. Jenkins
Delija vs. Scheffel
Aubin-Mercier vs. Ray
Ladd vs. Budd
Sy vs. Taylor
Wilkinson vs. Akhmedov
The Prelims