Fight Facts: 2023 PFL 4

Fight Facts is a breakdown of all of the interesting information and cage curiosities on every card, with some puns, references and portmanteaus to keep things fun. These deep stat dives delve into the numbers, providing historical context and telling the stories behind those numbers.

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TOTAL NUMBER OF PFL FIGHTS: 911
TOTAL NUMBER OF PFL EVENTS: 100

The company now known as Professional Fighters League celebrated its 100th event in combined World Series of Fighting and PFL history. Starting off the second leg of the 2023 regular season, the promotion trotted out the remnants of its featherweight and light heavyweight divisions, with those weight classes losing seven competitors for drug test failures. PFL 4: 2023 Regular Season ended as one of its most finish-heavy shows in years while featuring a stunning upset for a huge favorite and a not-so-fond farewell to a former champ.

Rare for Majors to Reach 100: PFL 4: 2023 Regular Season served as the organization’s 100th event since its first show in 2012. The league staged 35 WSOF cards, three under the PFL name prior to its tournaments, 16 in the Challenger Series, one in Europe, and the remainder in yearly grands prix. WSOF-GC also ran seven shows under another banner that do not factor in.

Violent Night at the Overtime Elite: The fight card wrapped with nine of 12 bouts ending inside the distance. This 75% finish rate for a show is the highest for any in PFL with at least 10 fights since the second event of the first regular season back in 2018.

Hype Train on Ice: In the main attraction, Jesus Pinedo wiped out 2022 champ Brendan Loughnane in 94 seconds with a knee and follow-up punches. In doing so, Pinedo not only qualified himself for the playoffs in the No. 4 seed, but he ejected both Loughnane and four-time semifinalist Chris Wade from contention.

Mudo Madness: By scorching Loughnane, “El Mudo” boosted his finish rate as a pro to 76%. He has seen all five of his last wins end by knockout within two rounds.

Chalky till the End: The first 11 matches of PFL 4 saw the betting favorite win, with two -1400 favorites and three others at -1000 all prevailing. The main event, however, saw +500 Pinedo dispatch Loughnane (-900) to record the biggest betting upset in the PFL since Larissa Pacheco at +550 odds beat -800 Kayla Harrison in November 2022.

Rivaling Amosov: To boost his pro record to 21-0-1 (1 NC), Movlid Khaybulaev throttled Tyler Diamond with an arm-triangle choke in Round 2. The Dagestan native secure the no. 3 seed by procuring his first stoppage win in the PFL ranks since his 10-second flying knee of Damon Jackson over four years ago.

Bad Man, Good Choke: Claiming the top featherweight spot, Bubba Jenkins put Sung Bin Jo to sleep with a rear-naked choke. The fighter known as “I’m a Bad Man” has performed four submissions as a pro, and they have all come by RNC in Round 1.

Rough Way to Get a Quick Six: With Delan Monte suffering a knee injury just 90 seconds into their bout, Joshua Silveira earned another six points to sit atop the light heavyweight leaderboard with the maximum number of 12. Ten of Silveira’s 11 pro wins have come before the final bell.

Those Screams Were Haunting: Monte’s knee injury accounts for the seventh injury stoppage since PFL tournaments began back in 2018. All but one – an arm injury for Rick Story in 2018 – occurred in the opening frame.

It Seemed Inevitable: Lifting his record to a shiny 11-0, Gabriel Braga thumped Marlon Moraes in the first round to also reach the playoffs. It was the first time in five fights where the Brazilian had not gone the distance.

The Magic is Gone: Earning his seventh straight loss – all by knockout – Moraes decided to hang up his gloves. The former WSOF bantamweight champion started his tenure with the company by stringing together 11 wins, and he still remains one of the winningest fighters in company history. Coming back to the PFL, “Magic” dropped three in a row.

Took the Wrong Medicine: After missing weight by 5.2 pounds, Ty Flores picked up a decision over Dan Spohn. The two points he earned – “Bad Medicine” lost one for coming in heavy – were enough to take the fourth seed at 205 pounds. Each of his last five victories have come at the hands of the judges.

The End of an Institution: In five seasons of PFL tournaments, this year is the first where Wade did not make the playoffs. The former lightweight strangled Ryoji Kudo with a guillotine choke, but his six-point finish came slower than Pinedo’s knockout to bump him out of the postseason.

There’s Always Next Year: While his 2023 campaign may be over for now, Wade did enter into his 18th fight on the roster overall. This places him with the second-most bouts in company history, trailing only Lance Palmer’s 22.

Moral Victory: Notching win no. 11 as a PFL fighter, Wade became the seventh competitor in the history of the promotion to exceed 10 victories. Palmer also holds that top spot with 16.

One and Done Right: Having earned a contract on the seventh episode of the Challenger Series in March, Impa Kasanganay made the most of his lone opportunity to earn points by claiming five off of a submission win over Tim Caron. “Tshilobo” stepped over Flores, who had two decision victories, due to his stoppage.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into 2023 PFL 4, Loughnane (30 fights), Diamond (14 fights) and Jo (12 fights) had never been finished; Caron had never competed at light heavyweight (19 fights) and Abigail Montes had never seen a fight end in Round 1 (five fights).