This Friday, two of the perfect featherweights on the planet will conflict in the primary occasion of the Skilled Fighter’s League 2024 Championship. Rounding out an evening full of 5 different title bouts, Brendan Loughnane and Timur Khizriev will sq. off for the prospect at attaining not solely life-changing cash within the type of an enormous $1 million prize, but additionally a highly-coveted PFL championship belt. Each males have remained excellent over the course of their common season and playoff runs, with Loughnane buying two stoppage wins and Khizriev smothering the competitors with three resolution wins in a row.
After successful the PFL 2022 145-lb. event in 2022, Loughnane (30-5 MMA, 12-2 PFL) appeared to be a heavy favourite to take house the million-dollar test as soon as once more in 2023. That was till a primary spherical knockout loss to Jesus Pinedo within the common season noticed him be eradicated from the competitors. This brought about him to sadly wait on the sidelines for almost a complete yr whereas Pinedo went on to win the season. Oddly sufficient, the KO end marked the primary time the 34-year-old had ever misplaced an outing to the cage by strikes in his greater than 30 combat profession up till that time.
That yr ready within the wings didn’t appear to boring his combating spirit, nevertheless, because the Englishman wasted no time in impressing in his 2024 debut by ending Pedro Carvalho with strikes in lower than a spherical. He then adopted this up by recording his second stoppage victory in a row over Justin Gonzales after reducing open the American’s brow with a devastating knee, in the end forcing the cageside physician to wave off the competition. This two combat win streak propelled Loughnane right into a aggressive title eliminator matchup with Kai Kamaka III two months later, which Loughnane barely prevailed in with a aggressive break up resolution win over the Hawaiian.
WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 23: Kai Kamaka III throws a kick towards Brendan Loughnane through the PFL 2024 Playoffs at The Anthem on August 23, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photograph by Cooper Neill/Getty Photos)
Going an ideal 3-0 in Bellator earlier than the corporate was ultimately molded into the PFL, Khizriev (17-0 MMA, 3-0 PFL) dominantly stormed his means by his first few matches within the featherweight event. On his technique to scoring his spot within the event finals, the Makhachkala native breezed previous veteran fighters in Brett Johns and Enrique Barzola. He additionally (similar to Loughnane) claimed a back-and-forth break up resolution to punch his ticket to the bracket’s championship bout, defeating the hard-hitting Gabriel Braga by the pores and skin of his tooth.
WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 23: Timur Khizriev throws a punch towards Gabriel Braga through the PFL 2024 Playoffs at The Anthem on August 23, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photograph by Cooper Neill/Getty Photos)
For Loughnane, getting his hand raised this Friday afternoon can be the proper technique to cap off a spectacular comeback after being so roughly dispatched final yr. He’d additionally cement his place in firm historical past as solely the second man to win the PFL Featherweight Championship twice after Lance Palmer, who earned the strap in each 2018 and 2019.
Amongst a rising surge of elite-level fighters from Dagestan, Khizriev seems to be the following in line for MMA greatness ought to he handle to cast off his English adversary. The victory would make him one of many few people from his nation to ever earn a championship title in a significant group, becoming a member of the likes of Movlid Khaybulaev, Ali Isaev, and Magomed Magomedkerimov who all had PFL gold wrapped round their waist at one level.
