Fight Facts: PFL 2024 Regular Season 3

Jay PettryApr 22, 2024

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: 1,062
TOTAL NUMBER OF PFL EVENTS: 114

The Professional Fighters League wrapped up its first half of the Regular Season, with all six brackets charging forward into the unknown. With this week’s event in the books, welterweights and featherweights now have some standings. Two competitors from each division claimed six points, but the field remains open for anything in June. PFL 3: 2024 Regular Season featured a run of Russian dominance, a stunning buzzer-beater knockout and one more combatant ending the night with negative points.

The Russian Grim Reapers Are Here: Four unbeaten Russian fighters competed at this event: Magomed Umalatov (14-0), Shamil Musaev (14-0-1), Timur Khizriev (14-0) and Murad Ramazanov (11-0). All four prevailed to keep their perfect records intact.

Some Deliberate Matchmaking: In the welterweight bracket, all three Bellator fighters lost to their PFL counterparts in cross-promotion matches. Former Bellator combatants Goiti Yamauchi and Neiman Gracie also faced off, with Yamauchi getting the nod.

Good, Not Great: In a three-point performance, Umalatov outworked Andrey Koreshkov to win his 15th in as many appearances. It marks the third decision in his career, with all three coming under the PFL banner.

He Suffered; He Overcame: Bouncing back from his first stoppage loss, Brendan Loughnane ran through Pedro Carvalho in 86 seconds to pick up six playoff points. Despite the Brit holding 16 wins inside the distance, it marked his eighth in the opening frame.

Ha Ha Ha, What a Storley, Mark: By putting Logan Storley away in the second stanza, “Silent Assassin” Musaev claimed professional win no. 15. Twelve of those victories have come by finish.

No Saving by the Bell: With one second left in the first round, Gabriel Braga starched Justin Gonzales with a punch. The Brazilian is the fourth fighter in World Series of Fighting-PFL history to earn a stoppage at 4:59 of a round, joining Ali Isaev, Sheymon Moraes and Daniel James.

Irregular Rematch: Yamauchi settled for the decision win over rival Neiman Gracie, with the two running back their Bellator 284 clash from 2022. The Japanese combatant saw his finish rate fall to 83% with the triumph over the BJJ talent.

Takes His Time, Savors His Prey: After three hard-fought rounds, Kai Kamaka III staged a slight upset to pick up the win over Bubba Jenkins. The Hawaiian has earned 11 of his 13 pro victories at the hands of the judges.

Missing Some Flying Knees: Adam Borics took home the win on the scorecards over Enrique Barzola to put in a three-point victory. The high-flying Hungarian has heard the final bell in six straight outings dating back to 2020.

Timur Time: Staving off Brett Johns via decision, Timur Khizriev is a shiny 15-0 as a pro. All four of his bouts in major organizations have been successful, although they have all come by decision.

Seeing Stars: As the loftiest betting favorite of the evening, -1400 Murad Ramazanov ran over Laureano Staropoli en route to a rear-naked choke. The One Championship vet has an equally distributed method of victory, with four decisions, four knockouts and four tapouts to his credit.

Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Negative: Ahead of his welterweight match with Ramazanov, Staropoli missed weight by over four pounds. He and Shanna Young are the only two competitors in the 2024 season to miss weight and lose, placing both with negative points in the standings.

Magically Destructive: Kicking his high stoppage rate to 91%, Don Madge throttled Brennan Ward with a rear-naked choke in 62 seconds. “Magic Man” celebrates five knockouts and five submissions on his ledger.

Shredded Him Like Lettuce: Putting Romain Debienne away in just over two minutes, Thad Jean lifted his young, spotless record to 7-0. Five of his triumphs have come inside the distance, including four in the opening frame.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into PFL 2024 3, Storley (17 fights) and Gonzales (17 fights) had never been finished, Staropoli had never been submitted (18 fights) and Otto Rodrigues had never lost on the scorecards (15 fights).