PFL announces 2019 playoff schedule, lineups
Kayla Harrison | Ryan Loco, PFL
The stage is set for the 2019 PFL playoffs.
Officials revealed the lineups for a trio of league events this October, which will decide who advances to the finals on New Year’s Eve where they will compete for a championship and a $1,000,000 prize. All three playoff shows will take place at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
Introduced this season, the women’s lightweight playoffs is only comprised of a four-woman semifinal round, while all other playoffs feature an eight-man field. Participants in the eight-man fields will compete twice in one night, with two-round bouts in the quarter-finals and traditional three-round bouts in the semifinals.
First, on Oct. 11, the welterweight will be whittled down to four competitors, while the women’s lightweight field will be cut to two. Currently leading the standings are Glaico Franca at 170 pounds and Sarah Kaufman at 155 pounds. Last year’s welterweight champion Magomed Magomedkerimov and rising lightweight star Kayla Harrison will also be in action in their respective tournaments.
Here is the lineup for PFL 7 (final bout order to be determined by results, seeding in parentheses):
Sarah Kaufman (1) vs. Larissa Pacheco (4)
Kayla Harrison (2) vs. Genah Fabian (3)
Glaico Franca (1) vs. Andre Fialho (8)
Magomed Magomedkerimov (2) vs. Chris Curtis (7)
Sadibou Sy (3) vs. Ray Cooper III (6)
John Howard (4) vs. David Michaud (5)
A pair of “new fighter showcase” bouts featuring competitors outside of the tournament are also expected to be added to the card.
PFL 7 begins at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN+, and continues on ESPN2 at 10 p.m. ET.
On Oct. 17, the featherweight and men’s lightweight finalists will be determined. Returning champions Lance Palmer and Natan Schulte enter as the top seeds in their respective divisions.
Here is the lineup for PFL 8 (final bout order to be determined by results, seeding in parentheses):
Lance Palmer (1) vs. Gadzhi Rabadanov (8)
Movlid Khaybulaev (2) vs. Daniel Pineda (7)
Luis Rafael Laurentino (3) vs. Jeremy Kennedy (6)
Alex Gilpin (4) vs. Andre Harrison (5)
Lightweight
Natan Schulte (1) vs. Ramsey Nijem (8)
Islam Mamedov (2) vs. Loik Radzhabov (7)
Chris Wade (3) vs. Nate Andrews (6)
Akhmed Aliev (4) vs. Rashid Magomedov (5)
PFL 8 begins at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2, and continues on ESPN+ at 10:30 p.m. ET.
Lastly, on Oct. 31, the playoffs for the light heavyweight and heavyweight tournaments will go down. Currently owning No. 1 seeds are Emiliano Sordi and Denis Goltsov.
Here is the lineup for PFL 9 (final bout order to be determined by results, seeding in parentheses):
Emiliano Sordi (1) vs. Sigi Pesaleli (8)
Maxim Grishin (2) vs. Jordan Johnson (7)
Vinny Magalhaes (3) vs. Rashid Yusupov (6)
Bozigit Ataev (4) vs. Viktor Nemkov (5)
Denis Goltsov (1) vs. Satoshi Ishii (8)
Muhammed DeReese (2) vs. Jared Rosholt (7)
Alex Nicholson (3) vs. Francimar Barroso (6)
Kelvin Tiller (4) vs. Ali Isaev (5)
PFL 9 begins at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN+, and continues on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. ET.
The finals of the 2019 PFL season will take place on Dec. 31 in New York City.
