WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Professional Fighters League (“PFL”) today announced the line-up for PFL2, which will take place live on Thursday, June 21 at The Chicago Theatre. PFL2 will feature individual fighters battling in the lightweight and light heavyweight divisions, competing to be the champion of their weight class and win over $1 million each. PFL2 tickets are on sale now.
Talented lightweights Will Brooks—a Chicago native—and Luiz Firmino will compete at the top of PFL2’s Thursday Fight Night. The two fighters represent competing teams, with Brooks hailing from American Top Team and Firmino flying the Blackzilian standard. There is no love lost between the two gyms, located just miles apart in South Florida.
“I can’t wait to see Will and Luiz and all of our fighters get after it,” said Ray Sefo, President of Fighting Operations of PFL. “Our 12 regular-season fights will all be must-see TV because each of our elite 72 fighters are starting with the same chance to win the title and their share of the $10 million PFL championship prize pool that comes with it.”
“I’m excited to be fighting Luiz Firmino in my hometown of Chicago,” said PFL Fighter Will Brooks. “The PFL’s win-and-advance format means that I can battle the best in my division. Every punch I land on June 21 will matter and bring me closer to the championship belt.”
PFL2 will also feature the first bout of pioneering American Judoka Kayla Harrison’s mixed martial arts career. The two-time Olympic gold medalist, and only American to ever win a gold medal in Judo, will make her debut against a to-be-announced opponent. Harrison’s fight will be a showcase bout and will not be part of the 2018 PFL season.
“I’m excited to make my professional MMA debut with PFL,” said Kayla Harrison. “It has been a long road preparing to transition to MMA and I can’t wait to show people just how much I am capable of. It is always my goal to be the best at whatever I do and MMA is no exception.”
Presale tickets for 25% off regular price can be purchased from Wednesday, May 2 at 10 a.m. E.T. until 10 a.m. ET on Friday, May 4, at PFLmma.com (presale code PRE25). Full-priced tickets will go on sale Friday, May 4 at 10 a.m. ET.
Tickets can also be purchased at www.msg.com/the-chicago-theatre (presale code CHIPFL) and ticketmaster.com.
Full PFL 2 Card
Luiz Firmino (20-8) vs. Will Brooks (18-4)
Rashid Magomedov (22-2)
vs. Jason High (21-6)
Rashid Yusupov (8-0) vs. Rakim Cleveland
(18-9-1)
Brian Foster (27-10) vs. Ramsey Nijem (9-6)
Ronny
Markes (17-5) vs. Sean O’Connell (17-9)
Smealinho Rama (10-3) vs.
Brandon Halsey (10-3)
Islam Mamedov (14-1) vs. Yuki Kawana (14-1-5)
Maxim
Grishin (25-7) vs. Jason Butcher (11-2)
Thiago Tavares (21-7-1) vs.
Robert Watley (10-1)
Chris Wade (12-3) vs. Natan Schulte (11-3)
Dan
Spohn (16-5) vs. Bazigit Ataev (17-1)
Vinny Magalhaes (14-8) vs.
Jamie Abdallah (7-2)
PFL Women’s Lightweight Showcase Fight
Kayla Harrison (0-0) vs. TBA
U.S.-based and international fans will be able to watch all PFL regular season, playoff, and championship fights—over 66 hours of live action—for free. In the United States, all of the PFL regular season events will air live on Thursday in primetime exclusively on NBCSN, and stream live on NBCSports.com, the NBC Sports app, and pflmma.com. Outside the U.S., Facebook will stream up to six hours of free, live coverage for each event. In the U.S., fans can watch the first three hours of coverage of each event on Facebook.
About Professional Fighters League™
The Professional Fighters League presents MMA for the first time in the sport format where individuals compete in a regular season, “win-or-go-home” post-season, and championship. Co-founded by Donn Davis, Russ Ramsey, and Mark Leschly, the Professional Fighters League is backed by an ownership group of sports, media, and business titans. The PFL 2018 Season has 72 fighters in six weight-classes, competing in the regular season on Thursday nights in June, July, and August. The top eight in each weight-class face off in single-elimination playoff fights on Saturday nights in October and the PFL season concludes December 31 with six championship bouts back-to-back with a $10 million prize pool. Watch the entire PFL season action beginning June 7 live on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), Facebook Watch, and PFLmma.com. For more visit www.PFLmma.com.
