Infographic: Professional Fighters League Season 1 Welterweight Playoff Standings Update

In order to understand how strange and tense the Professional Fighters League welterweight regular season has been so far, you only need to know two things: One, the division contains one of the five greatest welterweights of all-time; and two, he’s in real danger of missing the playoffs. It’s been that kind of season.

The all-time great in question is of course Jake Shields, whose second-round drubbing last month at the hands of Ray Cooper III somehow managed to be one of the biggest upsets in all of MMA this year and at the same time perfectly normal for PFL. Shields has a chance to right the ship against fellow World Series of Fighting and Strikeforce vet Herman Terrado at Professional Fighters League 6 on Thursday.

Atop the welterweight standings sit Joao Zeferino, a previous two-division contender for WSOF who challenged Jon Fitch for the welterweight title there, and Magomed Magomedkerimov, another in the seemingly endless procession of high-level prospects from the Republic of Dagestan to enter North American MMA through WSOF/PFL. Both won their season-opening bouts via first-round stoppage, leaving them in a position to clinch playoff berths with a victory of any kind on Thursday.

There will be one new face in the PFL cage on Thursday; since Paul Bradley withdrew for unspecified reasons, his place will be filled by undefeated Carlton Minus. While “Clutch” was probably thrilled to receive the call-up, his jubilation may have faltered when he heard he had drawn 19-time Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran and longtime welterweight contender Rick Story as a debut opponent. “The Horror” will represent a colossal step up in competition for Minus, who has gone 9-0 entirely within his native Alaska.

The PFL regular season continues through August, with the playoffs scheduled to begin in October.

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