Boston Salmon Eyeing Fresh Start in PFL’s Featherweight Division

Boston Salmon believes that his adventure in the Professional Fighters League will open a new and successful chapter in his mixed martial arts career. Salmon (8-3, 1-0 PFL) secured a contract with the PFL following his second-round stoppage over Do Gyeom Lee at PFL Challenger Series 4. While initially the Ultimate Fighting Championship alum wasn’t supposed to compete in this year’s tournament, “Boom Boom” agreed to replace 2021 145-pound champion Movlid Khaybulaev after the Russian injured himself. Salmon will take on Sheymon Moraes Thursday at 2022 PFL 2 (9 p.m. ET ESPN2/ESPN+).

The opportunity came after a particularly rough year, 2021, when Salmon even contemplated retirement. Ultimately, he opted to move up a division and fight at 145 pounds, a choice that changed his life and got his career back on track.

“People kind of make remarks about me not having a chin, being done, not being able to fight,” he said. “I took two losses in the UFC, [but] they weren’t knockouts, they were TKOs. I wasn’t knocked out. I was aware of what was happening, I was still able, I wanted to fight, but I was depleted, I had nothing in my body. I couldn’t perform. No one ever talked about me fighting out of weight. I couldn’t perform, you know? They only see the victories and the highlight at 135 with me knocking people out. I take two losses in the UFC at 135 and then, ‘Oh, this guy’s done. He can’t take a punch, he took too many hits.’ That first fight against Taha I took one, maybe… I mean, one shot that put me down, and I took maybe three shots on the ground. It wasn’t like I took any damage in that fight, right? That fight with Randy Costa, same thing. I didn’t really take any damage, I was leading in the fight. I was the aggressor and then I just got caught, I was on the ground and… not to say it was a premature stoppage, but I didn’t take any damage in those fights.”

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro
(00:55) His training camp for Moraes
(01:35) Staying ready after the Challenger Series fight
(02:41) Considering retirement and commenting on his 2021
(04:15) Fighting for the $1 million prize
(04:38) Earning his contract on the Challenger Series
(06:31) His thoughts on the Lee fight and finish
(07:53) Disclosing that his PFL contract didn’t imply fighting in the tournament at first
(08:44) Moving up a division and his body’s response to the change
(13:26) Breaking down Moraes’ fighting style
(14:14) Walking out to “Boombastic” by Shaggy
(14:50) Acknowledgments and outro

Tudor Leonte started writing about mixed martial arts in 2013 for Italian media outlets. His journey with Sherdog began in 2018 and now he covers One Championship and countless European shows. You can follow him on Twitter @MrTudorLeonte.