OFFICIAL: Heavyweight & Featherweight standings after #2022PFL2!
B2YB @nxtlvlbrands pic.twitter.com/fU8ul7vYQB— PFL (@PFLMMA) April 29, 2022
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: 737
TOTAL NUMBER OF PFL EVENTS: 79
The Professional Fighters League carried out its sophomore 2022 tournament show with featherweights and heavyweights on the menu, to wildly varying results. While the heavier men largely pulled off knockouts, every 145-pound contest went the full length. PFL2: 2022 Regular Season featured a couple of massive knockout artists starting the season off strong, the most active fighter in league history in a rough patch and an unusual (and bloody) stoppage to an otherwise entertaining match.
Logjam at 145: Going into the second stage of the featherweight bracket, all five victorious 145-pound fighters are tied, as Chris Wade, Brendan Loughnane, Bubba Jenkins, Sheymon Moraes and Alejandro Flores Garcia all prevailed by unanimous decision. The tiebreaker provision currently rests on the combined tallies for the winners’ scorecards.
Bruno’s Back, Baby: Bruno Henrique Cappelozza started his 2022 campaign off right by notching a first-round stoppage over Stuart Austin in the main event. His six-point win advanced his career knockout rate to 93%, with just one decision marring that number.
Anything but Straight Dave’s Man Slammin’ Maxout: The knockout was Cappelozza’s fourth since joining the roster in 2021. The Brazilian is tied with fellow PFL 2: 2022 Regular Season combatant Denis Goltsov – Goltsov also earned his fourth at this event – for the most knockouts in divisional history. Justin Gaethje holds the overall record with nine.
The Long Island Decisioner: In the co-headliner spot, Wade upset former two-time champ Lance Palmer by decision. “The Long Island Killer” has now gone the distance in 22 of his 29 career outings, accounting for just fewer than 76% of his appearances.
Wading Into the Fray: Wade celebrates his seventh win at the hands of the judges since rejoining the PFL in 2018 – Wade previously fought at WSOF 2 in 2013 but lost. As a result, he is now in sole possession of second place for the most decision wins in league history, trailing only Palmer’s nine.
Perma-Contender: Even in a loss, Palmer fought under the World Series of Fighting-PFL banner for the 21st time. He extends his own record with this mark, and the next closest fighter will be Ray Cooper III in one week, who fights for the 15th time on the roster.
Still Wants a Third Green Jacket: Palmer succumbed to his sixth defeat since making his WSOF debut in 2013. This sixth loss – account for all the setbacks in his career – ties him with Mike Kyle for the most in league history.
No Longer Greasing Palms: For the fifth time as a WSOF-PFL fighter, Palmer lost on the scorecards. He ties opponent Wade and Steven Siler for the most decision losses in promotional history.
Eastman’s Nightmare: Due to an accidental clash of heads, Ryoji Kudo could not continue and Loughnane earned the unanimous technical decision victory. The technical decision is the third of its kind in company history, joining Lewis Gonzalez beating Antonio McKee and Dan Spohn winning over Artur Alibulatov in 2013 and 2018, respectively.
He’s a Problema: In 2021, Renan Ferreira set the heavyweight company record for the quickest knockout, dispatching Austin in 31 seconds. “Problema” surpassed that by flattening Jamelle Jones in 25 seconds.
An All-Brazil Final Could Come: In addition to the fastest at the largest weight category, Ferreira’s 31-second knockout is tied as the ninth-speediest in organizational history, regardless of division.
Randy Couture Had Flashbacks: Ferreira is the second PFL fighter to record a win stemming from a front kick, after putting Jones away with this strike and follow-up punches. Abusupiyan Magomedov first did this to Danillo Villefort, and his front kick landed to the body and not the head like Ferreira’s.
Big Man with Bigger Power: In a career that kicked off in 2013 but really got rolling in 2019, Ferreira has earned 89% of his victories by stoppage. Every one of those finishes took place in the first two rounds.
He’s Russian: To open the main card, Russia’s Goltsov pounded out Cody Goodale with strikes in the first round and earned six points for the playoffs. “The Russian Bogatyr” has seen 82% of his career wins come inside the distance, including eight of his last nine.
Walking Tall with Five: The lone five-point finish of the evening came courtesy of Ante Delija, who thrashed Matheus Scheffel in the second round. As a pro, “Walking Trouble” celebrates a finish rate of exactly 75%, and all of his stoppages dating back to 2015 have come due to strikes and not from a submission maneuver.
Granite Chin, Pebble Fists: Across three rounds, Jenkins overwhelmed PFL newcomer Kyle Bochniak to win on the scorecards. Win or lose, the last 11 fights for Bochniak have all lasted exactly 15 minutes.
Give Him a Coca-Cola: Klidson Abreu clocked in as the lone heavyweight to not record a knockout on this fight card, instead settling for a decision over then-unbeaten Adam Keresh. It marked the second time that “White Bear” had needed to go the distance to beat an opponent, with the first his last victory, one over Sam Alvey in 2019.
Not Very Challenging: Both Keresh and Boston Salmon earned their places in the heavyweight and featherweight brackets, respectively, courtesy of contract-winning performances on their episodes of the Challenger Series. Neither Keresh nor Salmon won, as Salmon suffered a decision defeat to Sheymon Moraes.
Never Say Never Again: Coming into PFL 2: 2022 Regular Season, Kudo had never dropped consecutive bouts (13 fights), Keresh had never competed beyond the second round (five fights) and Saba Bolaghi had never fought outside of Europe (17 fights).