The PFL World Championships for the 2023 PFL Season take place this weekend at PFL 10. Read our preview of every one of the 2023 PFL World Champions bouts below.
Twelve competitors will vie for a $1 million prize this weekend at PFL 10 in the Finals of the 2023 PFL Season. PFL 10 will feature the World Championship bouts in six weight classes – Featherweight, Lightweight, Welterweight, Light Heavyweight, Heavyweight and Women’s Featherweight.
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Read our preview of every single 2023 PFL World Championship bout below.
Lightweight: Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Clay Collard
The PFL 10 main event features the 2023 PFL Lightweight World Championship between 2022 PFL Lightweight World Champion Olivier Aubin-Mercier and the always-entertaining Clay Collard. The two men enter the event in career-best form and as arguably the best fighters on the PFL roster.
Aubin-Mercier was always a highly-touted prospect out of Canada, expected to rise to the levels of Georges St. Pierre and Rory MacDonald. But he surprisingly left the UFC in 2019 following losses to Alexander Hernandez, Gilbert Burns and Arman Tsarukyan, by no means easy competition.
He returned to action in 2019 in the PFL and has since gone an incredible undefeated streak, with nine straight wins. He won last year’s PFL Season with a knockout of Stevie Ray and has beat Shane Burgos, Anthony Romero and Bruno Miranda this season to earn his spot in the 2023 PFL World Championship. He will look to win back-to-back PFL World Championships.
Over his 12-year career, Collard has fought some of the best fighters in the world, including a short stint in the UFC. He also spent two years fully dedicated to the sport of boxing. Still only 30 years old, Collard is possibly entering the best form of his career, with victories over Yamato Nishikawa, Stevie Ray and Shane Burgos in the 2023 PFL Season.
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Heavyweight: Denis Goltsov vs. Renan Ferreira
The PFL 10 co-main event features the 2023 PFL Heavyweight World Championship contest between Denis Goltsov and Renan Ferreira. Goltsov is a Sambo World Champion who enters the 2023 Championship bout riding a five-fight win streak that featured four first-round finishes.
In the 2023 PFL Season, Goltsov has knocked out Cezar Ferreira and Yorgan De Castro and submitted Jordan Heiderman, all in the first round. Across from him will be Renan Ferreira, who had his opening 2023 Season loss overturned due to his opponent popping for banned substances.
He has made the most of his opportunity, securing back-to-back first-round knockouts of Matheus Scheffel and Maurice Greene, earning his spot in the 2023 PFL Heavyweight World Championship. If their records are anything to go by, the fight is not going the distance, and it may not even go past the first round.
Women’s Featherweight: Larissa Pacheco vs. Marina Mokhnatkina
In the 2023 PFL Women’s Featherweight World Championship, Larissa Pacheco takes on Marina Mokhnatkina. Pacheco is arguably the best fighter on the PFL roster, riding a nine-fight win streak entering PFL 10 this weekend. She won the 2022 PFL Women’s Lightweight World Championship last year with an upset victory over Kayla Harrison.
Pacheco opened the 2023 PFL Season with a unanimous decision victory over former Bellator Women’s Featherweight World Champion Julia Budd before scoring sub-one-minute knockouts of Amber Leibrock and Olena Kolesnyk in her past two fights.
She faces the streaking Mokhnatkina, who is riding a five-fight win streak with finishes in two of her three 2023 PFL Season bouts. Her only loss in the PFL came at Lightweight against multiple-time Champion Kayla Harrison. Mokhnatkina can score a $1 million upset at PFL 10.
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Welterweight: Sadibou Sy vs. Magomed Magomedkerimov
The 2023 PFL Welterweight World Championship features a rematch between former PFL World Champions Sadibou Sy and Magomed Magomedkerimov. Both men have been in the PFL since its inaugural season in 2018.
Sy has not lost since his first fight with Magomedkerimov in the 2021 PFL Welterweight Semifinal. Since then, Sy won the 2022 PFL Welterweight Championship and enters PFL 10 this weekend with a seven-fight win streak. Despite being 36, Sy is clearly in the best form of his career, with two highlight-reel knockouts in the 2023 PFL Season.
Magomedkerimov won the 2018 PFL Welterweight Championship and has been a consistent threat in every season since. In his decade-and-a-half career, Magomedkerimov boasts victories over the likes of Anatoly Tokov, Bojan Velickovic, Ray Cooper III, Chris Curtis, Curtis Millender and Gleison Tibua.
Find the PFL 10: 2023 PFL World Championship Fight Card and Start Times here.
Light Heavyweight: Josh Silveira vs. Impa Kasanganay
In the 2023 PFL Light Heavyweight World Championship, Josh Silveira and Impa Kasanganay compete in what should be an explosive affair. Silveira, the son of American Top Team Founder and Head Coach Conan Silveira, has looked remarkable in his career thus far.
All but one of Silveira’s wins have come via finish, with his only career loss coming against Omari Akhmedov last year. Across from Silveira will be Impa Kasanganay, who has looked impressive in the PFL following a short UFC stint. He has won all four of his PFL fights, with three of them coming within the distance.
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Featherweight: Jesus Pinedo vs. Gabriel Alves Braga
In arguably the most interesting matchup of PFL 10, bright prospects Jesus Pinedo and Gabriel Alves Braga rematch for the 2023 PFL Featherweight Championship in the ESPN+ prelim headliner. The two men fought to a split decision in their opening bouts of the 2023 PFL Season, with Braga coming out on top.
Only 29, Pinedo made his PFL debut this season as one of the least-known fighters on the roster despite his vast experience, including two fights in the UFC. Following the loss to Braga, Pinedo shocked the world with a stunning first-round knockout of the 2022 PFL Featherweight Champion Brendan Loughnane. He backed that up with another knockout of Bubba Jenkins.
Similarly to Pinedo, Braga entered the 2023 PFL Season as a big underdog, having earned his spot with a win in the PFL Challenger Series 2023. Following the split decision win over Pinedo, Braga secured a remarkable first-round knockout of MMA legend Marlon Moraes. He beat Chris Wade in his last fight to maintain his undefeated record.
With the PFL entering a new era following their acquisition of Bellator MMA, every fighter can cement their place as the face of the new PFL. Pinedo and Braga may just be the faces of PFL for the next decade.
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