PFL Unveils First-Round Matchups For 2025 World Tournament

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The brackets for eight inaugural PFL World Tournaments in 2025 are set.

After ditching its season and playoff format this year, the Professional Fighters League will kick off a new era next month with the launch of its inaugural World Tournaments.

The Grand Prix-style structure will see eight fighters in each weight class compete in a single elimination format, culminating in championship finals worth $500,000 for the winners.

Having completed its rollout of the eight divisional rosters last week, the PFL staged a bracket reveal show on Tuesday to unveil the first-round matchups set to play out across four events in the coming weeks.

For those bouts, including returns for the likes of Jason Jackson, Jesus Pinedo, Taila Santos, Liz Carmouche, and Alexandr Romanov, see the schedule below.

2025 PFL World Tournament 1: First Round – April 3

Main Card (ESPN2/ESPN+, 10 PM ET):

Welterweight First Round: Jason Jackson (18-5) vs. Andrey Koreshkov (28-5)

Featherweight First Round: Jesus Pinedo (23-6) vs. Adam Borics (19-2)

Welterweight First Round: Magomed Umalatov (17-1)vs. Logan Storley (16-3)

Featherweight First Round: Jeremy Kennedy (19-4) vs. Movlid Khaybulaev (21-0-1)

Early Card (ESPN+, 7 PM ET):

Welterweight First Round: Mukhamed Berkhamov (17-2) vs. Florim Zendeli (10-1-1) 

Featherweight First Round: Gabriel Braga (15-2) vs. Yves Landu (21-9) 

Welterweight First Round: Giannis Bachar (9-2) vs. Masayuki Kikuiri (10-2-1)

Featherweight First Round: Nathan Kelly (11-3) vs. Taekyun Kim (10-1)

Welterweight Alternate: Joseph Luciano (10-2) vs. Thad Jean (8-0)

Featherweight Alternate: Fred Dupras (8-1) vs. Nathan Ghareeb (10-3)

2025 PFL World Tournament 2: First Round – April 11

Main Card (ESPN2/ESPN+, 11 PM ET):

Bantamweight First Round: Magomed Magomedov (20-3) vs. Leandro Higo (23-6)

Women’s Flyweight First Round: Taila Santos (24-4) vs. Juliana Velasquez (13-3)

Bantamweight First Round: Savarjon Khamidov (16-0) vs. Jake Hadley (11-4)

Bantamweight First Round: Ciaran Clarke (10-0) vs. Kasum Kasumov (16-1) 

Early Card (ESPN+, 8 PM ET):

Women’s Flyweight First Round: Liz Carmouche (22-8) vs. Ilara Joanna (12-9)

Bantamweight First Round: Ali Taleb (11-1) vs. Zebenzui Ruiz (12-3) 

Women’s Flyweight First Round: Kana Watanabe (13-3-1) vs. Jena Bishop (7-2) 

Women’s Flyweight First Round: Elora Dana (7-0) vs. Diana Avsaragova (6-1)

Bantamweight Alternate: Francesco Nuzzi (10-1) vs. Matheus Mattos (14-3-1)

Women’s Flyweight Alternate: Ekaterina Shakalova (8-2) vs. Saray Orozco (8-6) 

2025 PFL World Tournament 3: First Round – April 18

Main Card (ESPN/ESPN+, 7 PM ET):

Middleweight First Round: Impa Kasanganay (18-5) vs. Fabian Edwards (13-4) 

Lightweight First Round: Alexander Shabliy (24-4) vs. Brent Primus (15-4-0, 1 NC)

Lightweight First Round: Gadzhi Rabadanov (24-4-2) vs. Marc Diakiese (18-7) 

Lightweight First Round: Mads Burnell (20-6) vs. Jay-Jay Wilson (10-1)

Early Card (ESPN+, 4:30 PM ET):

Middleweight First Round: Sadibou Sy (17-8-2, 1 NC ) vs. Dalton Rosta (9-1)

Middleweight First Round: Josh Silveira (13-4) vs. Mike Shipman (17-4)

Lightweight First Round: Clay Collard (25-14) vs. Alfie Davis (17-4-1) 

Middleweight First Round: Aaron Jeffery (15-5) vs. Murad Ramazanov (12-2)

Middleweight Alternate: Khalid Murtazaliev (17-3) vs. Jordan Newman (7-0)

Lightweight Alternate: Sergio Cossio (27-10-1) vs. Robert Watley (15-3)

2025 PFL World Tournament 4: First Round – May 1

Main Card (ESPN2/ESPN+, 10 PM ET):

Light Heavyweight First Round: Phil Davis (24-7, 1 NC) vs. Rob Wilkinson (19-3,1 NC) 

Heavyweight First Round: Valentin Moldavsky (13-4) vs. Sergey Bilostenniy (13-3) 

Light Heavyweight First Round: Antonio Carlos Jr. (16-6, 2 NC) vs. Karl Moore (12-3)

Light Heavyweight First Round: Karl Albrektsson (14-6) vs. Simeon Powell (10-1) 

Early Card (ESPN+, 7 PM ET):

Heavyweight First Round: Alexandr Romanov (18-3) vs. Tim Johnson (18-11) 

Heavyweight First Round: Linton Vassell (25-10) vs. Oleg Popov (19-1) 

Light Heavyweight First Round: Sullivan Cauley (6-1) vs. Marcelo Nunes (11-2) 

Heavyweight First Round: Pouya Rahmani (4-0) vs. Abraham Bably (5-1) 

Light Heavyweight Alternate: Alex Polizzi (11-4) vs. Rafael Xavier (13-8) 

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