Fight Facts: PFL 2024 Playoffs 8

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: 1,148
TOTAL NUMBER OF PFL EVENTS: 122

The Professional Fighters League pushed on through the playoffs, getting to the 155- and 205-pounders to establish finalists. It was business as usual for a fight card devoid of stoppages, with not one but three betting favorites clocking in above -1200. PFL Playoffs 8 featured a comical minus line for the curtain jerker, a hopeful repeat champion going for gold again and a blood-and-guts brawler adding to a troubling number of losses.

No Mere Imp: Impa Kasanganay punched his ticket to the 2024 finals at 205 pounds by outworking Joshua Silveira over three rounds. “Tshilobo” previously won the 2023 title by beating Silveira.

Putting the Nation on the Map: Needing all three rounds to get past Rob Wilkinson, Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov scored the upset decision victory to advance to the million-dollar match. Most of his career wins on the scorecards have come in this current six-fight win streak for the Turkmenistani fighter.

Dulled Razor: 2022 champ “Razor Rob” suffered his first loss in the PFL cage when falling short to Yagshimuradov. With his seven-bout unbeaten stretch dissipating, six fighters maintain undefeated streaks of seven or more fights, with Dakota Ditcheva (eight) and Magomed Umalatov (seven) the only active ones.

On a Mission from Gad: Breaking a streak of six straight decision wins on his record, Gadzhi Rabadanov punched out Michael Dufort in the second round to earn a place in the lightweight finals. Eight of his last 10 wins have needed to involve the judges.

Making It Boring: Brent Primus outhustled Clay Collard to place himself in the finals against Rabadanov. In doing so, he handed Collard his sixth loss in the PFL cage. Only one fighter has more defeats in the promotion: Chris Wade (eight).

Building Him Like a Boxer: In 55 seconds, Biaggio Ali Walsh washed overweight replacement opponent Brian Stapleton. In the PFL cage, fighters who miss weight have lost eight of their last 10 excursions against on-weight opponents.

The Loneliest Danny: Due to a point deduction in Round 3 when Lazaro Dayron grabbed the cage, his bout against Danny Sabatello scored a majority draw. It marked the first draw of the year in the PFL and the first since Acoidan Duque and Aleksandrs Chizovs fought to a contentious draw at PFL Europe 2 in 2023.

Madsness: Fighting into the second round—and beyond—for the ninth straight fight, Mads Burnell picked up the nod on all three scorecards over Elvin Espinoza. His last five wins have all come via decision.

What Is Thaddy Mason LLC, and Why is Our Phone Bill $700? Moving his pro record to 8-0, Thad Jean outworked Chris Brown to win the decision. Half his career bouts have come in the PFL cage, while half have concluded by knockout.

One Great Trick Pony: Michelle Montague strangled Marilia Morais with a rear-naked choke in under two minutes. She elevated her spotless record to 6-0, with all six wins from this maneuver.

A Regular Kenny Florian: By tapping Morais, Montague claimed the top spot in combined World Series of Fighting-PFL history for rear-naked chokes. Her four break a tie with Lance Palmer and Natan Schulte for the most in company history.

By Kayla, For Kayla: Kayla Harrison holds the all-time women’s record for the most submissions in PFL history, with six. Harrison’s teammate Montague firmly holds the no. 2 spot with four on her young ledger.

Almost All First-Round Finishes: Ahead of her battle with Morais, Montague closed as a -4000 betting favorite. She is the fifth fighter in organizational history to reach or surpass this monumental betting line, joining Andre Harrison, K. Harrison, Ditcheva and Ben Woolliss.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into PFL 2024 8, Silveira (16 fights) and Espinoza (11 fights) had never dropped consecutive bouts, Dufort had never been knocked out (18 fights) and Wilkinson had never lost on the scorecards (22 fights).