PFL announces 2022 regular season schedule with events to take place in Arlington and Atlanta; Raush Manfio vs Don Madge, Anthony Pettis vs Myles Price to headline PFL 1
Additional fights announced for PFL 1 include Antonio Carlos Jr vs Delan Monte and Jeremy Stephens vs Clay Collard
The Professional Fighters League has announced its upcoming 2022 regular season will kick off on April 20 with the first of a series of events to start the year at Esports Stadium Arlington in Arlington, Texas.
The next two regular season events will take place in the Lone Star State as well on April 28 and May 6 before the action shifts to the Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta, Georgia for the second half of the season, which features PFL events on June 17, June 24, and July 1.
All events will air live in primetime in the U.S on ESPN and ESPN+.
“After our renewal with ESPN, the Professional Fighters League is back and we’re excited to bring the best fighters in the world to Arlington and Atlanta,” PFL CEO Peter Murray said in a press release.
“The PFL continues to disrupt the sport of MMA with our unique season format, innovative SmartCage technology and elite talent, with 2022 set to be our biggest year yet.”
The lightweight and light heavyweight divisions will begin their quests at the April 20 event, which will again be named PFL 1, followed by featherweights and heavyweights at PFL 2 on April 28 and then finally welterweights and the women’s lightweight roster at PFL 3 on May 6. The same order will repeat in the second half of the season.
The 2022 PFL playoffs are tentatively slated to begin on August 5, continuing with events on August 13 and August 20 at a location yet to be announced. The 2022 PFL championship will take place on November 25, with what is scheduled to be the PFL’s first-ever pay-per-view event.
Tickets will be available for the Arlington events beginning on Tuesday, March 22.
Manfio-Madge, Pettis-Price headline PFL 1
The full fight card for PFL 1 on April 20 was also announced as 2021 PFL lightweight champion Raush Manfio will begin the first defense of his crown against former EFC lightweight champion and South Africa native Don Madge in the show’s headliner.
Manfio claimed the PFL lightweight title with a unanimous decision over Loik Radzhabov at the 2021 PFL Championship this past October. Madge was victorious in his PFL debut last fall, submitting Nathan Williams with a second-round rear-naked choke.
In addition, former UFC and WEC lightweight king Anthony Pettis will return for another season with PFL, taking on Irish newcomer Myles Price in the co-main event.
Pettis is still searching for his first win under the PFL banner after going winless in both pf his fights during his debut season. Price has not fought since winning a split decision over former Bellator lightweight title challenger Peter Queally at Bellator 217 in February 2019.
Also in action at PFL 1 will be 2021 light heavyweight champion Antonio Carlos Jr., who returns to PFL for another season to defend his belt. He will face Shooto Brazil veteran Delan Monte, who will make his PFL debut riding a three-fight win streak.
Carlos Jr. earned the the PFL light heavyweight crown with a first-round submission win over Marthin Hamlet at the 2021 PFL Championship in October. Monte has won eight of his nine professional fights to date, most recently submitting Natalicio Filho in the third round of the headlining attraction of Brazilian Fighting Series 2 last August.
“The highly anticipated 2022 PFL season kicks off April 20 on ESPN and ESPN+ in the U.S. and will be distributed internationally to over 160 countries on premium sports platforms,” Murray said. “We are excited to deliver fans our next-gen product as well as the opportunity to follow the season-long journeys of our returning PFL champions and top-ranked fighters from around the world competing in MMA’s most challenging and rewarding format.”
Rounding out the PFL 1 main card will be a hard-hitting affair between longtime UFC veteran and recent castoff Jeremy Stephens and MMA fighter turned boxer Clay Collard, who returns to PFL a year removed from his upset win over Pettis during the 2021 season.
Stephens was released from the UFC after falling in five of his last six appearances. He last fought at UFC Vegas 31 in July of last year, suffering a quick submission loss at the hands of Mateusz Gamrot, and is looking for a fresh start.
Collard impressed in his initial season with the PFL until ultimately dropping a unanimous decision to eventual lightweight champion Manfio in the semifinals. He also competed in two more pro boxing matches in December, losing both.
“The PFL has put together an action-packed card to kick off the 2022 regular season,” PFL president of fighter operations Ray Sefo said. “I’m excited for fight fans around the world to watch the elite talent in our lightweight and light heavyweight divisions on April 20 live in primetime on ESPN.”
The complete PFL 1 card is as follows:
Main card:
Raush Manfio vs. Don Madge
Anthony Pettis vs. Myles Price
Antonio Carlos Jr. vs. Delan Monte
Clay Collard vs. Jeremy Stephens
Additional bouts:
Emiliano Sordi vs. Joshua Silveira
Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. TBA
Marthin Hamlet vs. Teodoras Aukstuolis
Omari Akhmedov vs. Viktor Pesta
Robert Wilkinson vs. Bruce Souto
Alexander Martinez vs. Stevie Ray