WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, the Professional Fighters League (PFL) held an open workout on the plaza of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.—the host city of PFL3. Anticipation for the third regular season event of PFL’s debut season built as onlookers caught the professional fighters in action. PFL3 will take place on Thursday, July 5 at the Charles E. Smith Center at The George Washington University. Fans can also watch all of the PFL3 fights in primetime exclusively on NBCSN, and streamed live on NBCSports.com, Facebook Watch, the NBC Sports app, and pflmma.com.
Featured fighters Jake Shields, Abubakar Nurmagomedov, Rick Story, and Ray Cooper III and all embraced the D.C. heat as they prepared for what will surely be fireworks at PFL3. Thursday’s 12-bout event is stacked with exciting match-ups in the middleweight and welterweight categories as fighters battle to put points on the board and ultimately win a playoff spot and a chance to compete for their share of the $10 million postseason prize pool.
“Being in the Nation’s Capital during Independence Week, and bringing MMA to my hometown has been very exciting—this has just been an incredible, electrifying day,” said Carlos Silva, League President. “I’m ready to watch these fighters take their amazing energy into the cage on Thursday.”
PFL announcer Joe Martinez emceed the workout and kept onlookers captivated as he conducted interviews with the professional athletes. Furthermore, PFL was honored to host members of the BETA Academy—a local martial arts academy focused on teaching children to be well-rounded and civically-engaged individuals—and Yamasaki Academy, a venerable Brazilian Jiu Jitsu academy in D.C. More than 30 children, joined by their respected instructors, watched in awe as the fighters showed off their strength, agility, and technique.
Tickets for PFL3 are on sale now and can be purchased at www.pflmma.com and www.ticketmaster.com.
The 2018 PFL season features 126 fights on Thursday nights in seven regular-season events, bracket-style “win or go home” playoffs, and a $10 million post-season prize pool—the largest prize pool in the history of MMA. The season began with 12 athletes in each of six different weight-classes. Eight fighters from each class will earn their way into the playoff round, and one fighter in each division will earn the title of champion.
U.S.-based and international fans can 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 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 streams 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.
