PFL 8 to Feature Featherweight, Heavyweight Playoffs in New Orleans on Oct. 5

The Professional Fighters League playoffs will begin with featherweight and heavyweight quarterfinal and semifinal bouts in New Orleans on Oct. 5.

The promotion recently announced the matchups for PFL 8, which takes place Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and airs on NBC Sports Network. The fighters competing at PFL 8 must win two bouts in one night to advance to the bracket championship, which takes place in New York on Dec. 31. The winner in each weight class becomes the division’s champion and earns a $1 million prize.

Four featherweight bouts will are slated for the PFL 8 quarterfinals (seedings in parentheses): (1) Steven Siler vs. (8) Nazareno Malegarie; vs. (4) Timur Valiev vs. (5) Alexandre Almeida; (3) Andre Harrison vs. (6) Alexandre Bezerra and (2) Lance Palmer vs. (7) Max Coga.

The PFL 2018 Playoffs Bracket is for the Featherweight Division! #PFL8 #RoadToTheChampionship #MMA #PFLmma pic.twitter.com/KZ5nDlmx9Z

— #PFLmma (@ProFightLeague) August 31, 2018

The heavyweight quarterfinals for PFL 8 are as follows: (1) Francimar Barroso vs. (8) Josh Copeland; (4) Jack May vs. (5) Alex Nicholson; (3) Philipe Lins vs. (6) Valdrin Istrefi and (2) Kelvin Tiller vs. (7) Jared Rosholt.

The PFL 2018 Playoffs Bracket is for the Heavyweight Division! #PFL8 #RoadToTheChampionship #MMA #PFLmma pic.twitter.com/0WxWrvRqnv

— #PFLmma (@ProFightLeague) August 31, 2018

“It has been a great year for the Professional Fighters League and we are very excited to bring PFL8, our first playoff event, to New Orleans,” PFL President Carlos Silva said in a release. “With our innovative format the League continues to make MMA history every time we put on an event and this bracket is sure to provide some incredible action in the cage as these guys compete for millions of dollars and a chance to become PFL champion.” 

PFL 9 will feature the first two rounds of the lightweight and light heavyweight playoffs at Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, Calif., on Oct. 13, while PFL 10 will showcase middleweights and welterweights at Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington on Oct. 20.