Professional Fighters League’s light heavyweight division features 12 men vying for eight playoff spots and a shot at the $1 million divisional prize, and Thursday’s PFL 5 card featrues several of those men. Most notably, current front-runners Vinny Magalhaes and Maxim Grishin are both in action. The Ultimate Fighter Season 8 finalist Magalhaes takes on former Bellator MMA middleweight champ Brandon Halsey. Meanwhile Grishin, who entered the season after going 13-1 over the last five years, primarily in his native Russia, is slated to meet Rakim Cleveland.
Magalhaes and Grishin both earned their way to the top of the initial standings by winning their first fights by first-round stoppage. In PFL’s formula, wins inside the distance are weighted, the earlier in the fight the better. Magalhaes choked out Australia’s Jamie Abdallah in the first round at PFL 2 in June, while Grishin defeated Jason Butcher at the same event in a strange-looking finish wherein Grishin rocked his man with a combo that caused him to stumble and injure his own ankle.
The PFL regular season will continue to run through August, with the playoffs scheduled to begin in October.
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