PFL MMA Night 1 Playoffs with Lilian Garcia and Kayla Harrison interviews and Night 2 preview
Three fighters with South Florida ties won their Professional Fighters League (PFL) MMA semifinal bouts during Night 1 of the PFL MMA Playoffs on Friday, Aug. 13 at Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino near Hollywood in South Florida.
Kayla Harrison of (South Florida) American Top Team looks to make it four on Aug. 19 on ESPN.
The semifinal nights (Aug. 13, 19, 27) are at Hard Rock Live. The finals on Oct. 27 will also be at Hard Rock Live.
PFL is the only MMA brand with a regular-season and playoff format. Each champion wins $1 million.
In a semifinal main event on Aug. 13, featuring top welterweights, No. 3 seed Ray Cooper III beat No. 2 seed Rory MacDonald of (South Florida) Sanford MMA by unanimous decision.
No.4 seed Magomed Magomedkerimov of (South Florida) American Top Team defeated No. 5 seed Sadibou Sy by unanimous decision.
That sets up Cooper (23-7) vs. Magomedkerimov (29-5) in the finals on Oct. 27.
Magomedkerimov is the 2018 PFL champion, beating Cooper in the finals. Cooper rebounded in 2019 to win the PFL title.
Top seed Loik Radzhabov of (South Florida) Sanford MMA won his lightweight semifinal, beating No. 4 seed Alexander Martinez by unanimous decision. Radzhabov avenged a loss to Martinez during the regular season by split decision.
No.3 seed Raush Manfio of (South Florida) American Top Team defeated No.2 seed Clay Collard by unanimous decision.
In a South Florida lightweight final in South Florida, Radzhabov (15-3-1) vs. Manfio (14-3) on Oct. 27. Radzhabov was the 2019 PFL runner-up.
During the preliminary bouts, Gleison Tibau of (South Florida) American Top Team beat Micah Terrill (15-9) in a welterweight contest.
Tibau (37-15) won via technical submission, choking Terrill unconscious in the first round with an arm-triangle choke. In the regular season, Tibau defeated MacDonald, too, by split decision but did not record enough points to reach the playoffs.
Tibau, 38, is a UFC veteran, who has won four of his past five fights.
Adriano Moraes, Santiago Ponzinibbio, Pedro Munhoz, Dan Lambert and Junior Dos Santos of American Top Team watched and cheered their teammates, including Tibau, at the PFL playoffs on Aug. 13.
PFL did not have a 2020 season because of Covid concerns but returned safely in 2021.
My video interviews with:
PFL defending champ and two-time Olympic judo gold medalist Kayla Harrison of (South Florida) American Top Team
Kayla’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/KaylaH
Kayla’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/judokayla/
Fearless Foundation: https://www.kaylaharrison.com/.
PFL Ring Announcer and WWE alum Lilian Garcia
Lilian’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/LilianGarcia
Lilian’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpV6DVb9f8S0hD5voFGsHqA
THE PFL PLAYOFFS IN SOUTH FLORIDA
The Professional Fighters League (PFL) continues its 2021 playoff semifinals on Aug. 19 and 27 at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino near Hollywood in South Florida.
Elite competitors from six weight classes (lightweight, welterweight, featherweight, light heavyweight, heavyweight, women’s lightweight) are vying to earn a world title and a $1 million purse, as 12 finalists will qualify for the 2021 PFL Championship on Wednesday, Oct. 27 at the same venue, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
Four have already qualified with eight more to follow.
All three events in August will air live on ESPN networks and streaming platforms.
The ring announcer is WWE alum Lilian Garcia.
Calling the action is play-by-play announcer and former world champion Sean O’Connell, UFC Hall of Famer and MMA legend Randy Couture and one of the most popular MMA personalities today, Kenny Florian.
PFL Playoffs 2 Card:
Aug. 19 on ESPN and ESPN Deportes
Kayla Harrison of (South Florida) American Top Team vs. Genah Fabian.
Larissa Pacheco vs. Taylor Guardado
Bruno Cappelozza vs. Jamelle Jones
Denis Goltsov vs. Ante Delija
Other bouts Aug. 19 On ESPN+
Renan Ferreira vs. Stuart Austin
Kaitlin Young vs. Marina Mokhnatkina
Carl Seumanutafa vs. Muhammed DeReese
Mariana Morais vs. Claudia Zamora
Miranda Barber vs. Amanda Leve
Christian Lohsen vs. Jonas Flok
https://sports.yahoo.com/2021-pfl-playoffs-results-ray-040044446.html
https://www.espn.com/mma/schedule/_/league/pfl
No fans allowed in August;
Fans allowed in October
No fans are allowed in attendance for the semifinals, but fans will be allowed for the finals on Oct. 27. Tickets are available via TicketMaster.
About Professional Fighters League (PFL)
Professional Fighters League (PFL) is the first and only sports combat company to present MMA in the sports-season format where individual fighters compete in regular season, playoffs and championship.
PFL is the innovation leader with the PFL SmartCage delivering viewers on-screen fight analytics and real-time prop bets. The 2021 PFL Season began with 60 fighters in six weight divisions. The playoffs commence with 24 fighters competing for 12 spots in the Championship event and one of six $1 million title purses. All PFL 2021 playoff events are live in primetime on ESPN/ESPN2/ESPN+ in the U.S., as well as on leading broadcast and streaming outlets in 160 countries worldwide.
For more info visit www.PFLmma.com and follow PFL on Instagram (@PFLmma), Twitter (@PFLMMA), and Facebook (/PFLmma).
My MMA & Pro Wrestling Talk on the Web and Social Media
http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/fighting/
Twitter: @jimmyv3
YouTube: jim varsallone (jimmyv3 channel)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProWrestlingSouthFlorida/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WWE-WrestleMania-28-Miami-241160769255279/
This story was originally published August 18, 2021 at 10:00 AM.
