Weigh-Ins took place today for tomorrow night’s Professional Fighters League event in Long Beach, CA, featuring the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the PFL 2018 Season Playoffs.
Tomorrow’s card is scheduled to feature playoff bouts for the Lightweight and Light Heavyweight divisions. The PFL issued the following press release with each fighters’ weight heading into tomorrow’s event.
Long Beach, Calif. – The Professional Fighters League (PFL) finalized their second of three 2018 Playoff events when all 20 athletes made weight Friday for Saturday’s 14-bout slate. PFL9 features lightweight and light heavyweight fighters competing for a spot in the 2018 PFL Championship to be held on New Year’s Eve at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden. Before they punch their ticket to the final, fighters will have to fight twice and win twice to earn their spot.
Top-seeded light heavyweight Vinny Magalhaes tipped the scales at 204.8 while his opponent, eight-seeded Rakim Cleveland came in at 204.4. In the lightweight division Natan Shulte, the number-one seed, hit 155 on the nose and his foe Johnny Case weighed-in one pound heavier at 156.
“I’m always happy when our fighters how their professionalism by coming in on weight,” said PFL President of Fighting Operations Ray Sefo. “Now it is time for all of them to go out and show they deserve to be fighting for $1 million. I am sure they will all be bringing their A-game with so much on the line.”
The 2018 PFL season featured 126 bouts in total on Thursday nights in seven regular-season events, a bracket-style “win-or-go-home” playoffs, and a $10 million post-season prize pool — the largest prize pool in the history of MMA. The season began with 72 athletes in each of six different weight-classes. Eight fighters from each division earned their way into the playoffs, with one fighter in each division ultimately earning the title of champion.
PFL9 will be held at the Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, Calif. and the first fight will be at 3:45 p.m. local time. Tickets are still available and can be purchased at TicketMaster.com as well as PFLmma.com.
Official Weights:
Vinny Magalhaes – 204.8
Rakim Cleveland – 204.4
Natan Schulte – 155
Johnny Case – 156
Bozigit Ataev – 204.6
Emiliano Sordi – 205.8
Chris Wade – 155.6
Robert Watley – 155.6
Dan Spohn – 206
Sean O’Connell – 205
Islam Mamedov – 155
Thiago Tavares – 156
Maxim Grishin – 205.6
Smealinho Rama – 203.8
Will Brooks – 155.8
Rashid Magomedov – 154.6
Brandon Halsey – 204.4
Ronny Markes – 205.8
Ramsey Nijem – 156
Yuki Kawana – 155.6
About Professional Fighters League™
The Professional Fighters League presents MMA for the first time in the sport format where individuals compete in a regular season, “win-or-go-home” post-season, and championship. Co-founded by Donn Davis, Russ Ramsey, and Mark Leschly, the Professional Fighters League is backed by an ownership group of sports, media, and business titans. The PFL 2018 Season has 72 fighters in six weight-classes, competing in the regular season on Thursday nights in June, July, and August. The top eight in each weight-class face off in single-elimination playoff fights on consecutive weekends in October and the PFL season concludes December 31 with six championship bouts back-to-back with a $10 million prize pool. Watch the entire PFL season action live on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), Facebook Watch, and PFLmma.com. For more visit www.PFLmma.com.
