The lineup is set for the first event under PFL – the rebranded WSOF promotion that has relaunched with an ambitious yearlong tournament format with some major paydays.
PFL 1 takes place Thursday, June 7, at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The main card airs on NBCSN following early fights on Facebook Watch, though the 12-bout lineup hasn’t yet been assigned broadcast slots.
As MMAjunkie recently reported, the organization put together a 72-man roster with fighters in six different weight classes. They’ll initially fight and earn points based on their methods of victory, and the top eight qualifiers will be seeded in tournaments later this year that earn each winner a cool $1 million.
Featherweights and heavyweights – many with some real name recognition – are part of the debut card.
In the featherweight headliner, undefeated 29-year-old New Yorker Andre Harrison (17-0), a former ROC, Titan FC and WSOF champion, meets former UFC fighter Jumabieke Tuerxun (20-5-1), a 32-year-old Chinese fighter who’s on a 5-2-1 run since a 2013-2014 stint in the UFC.
Like that headliner, the co-headliner also features 145-pounders: four-time NCAA Division I All-America wrestler Lance Palmer (12-3) vs. Bekbulat Magomedov (18-1), who has one loss (split decision to Josh Hill at WSOF 26) since turning pro in 2011.
Other featherweight bouts include Timur Valiev (12-2) vs. Max Coga (19-4), Alexandre Almeida (18-7) vs. Lee Coville (4-1), Magomed Idrisov (8-0) vs. Steven Siler (29-17), and Marcos Galvao (18-9-1) vs. Nazareno Malegarie (28-4).
Heavyweight bouts include Mike Kyle (23-15-1) vs. Shawn Jordan (19-8), Denis Goltsov (20-5) vs. Nick Rossborough (26-21-1), Jared Rosholt (15-4) vs. Valdrin Istrefi (11-1), Caio Alencar (11-2) vs. Jake Heun (11-6), Francimar Barroso (19-7) vs. Daniel Gallemore (7-4), Josh Copeland (16-4) vs. Jack May (9-3).
Tickets for PFL 1 are now on sale and range from $40 to $200.
The full PFL 1 lineup includes:
- Andre Harrison vs. Jumabieke Tuerxun
- Bekbulat Magomedov vs. Lance Palmer
- Shawn Jordan vs. Mike Kyle
- Max Coga vs. Timur Valiev
- Denis Goltsov vs. Nick Rossborough
- Alexandre Almeida vs. Lee Coville
- Valdrin Istrefi vs. Jake Rosholt
- Magomed Idrisov vs. Steven Siler
- Caio Alencar vs. Jake Heun
- Francimar Barroso vs. Daniel Gallemore
- Josh Copeland vs. Jack May
- Marcos Galvao vs. Nazareno Malegarie
For more on PFL 1, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.
