Welterweight, Light Heavyweight Matchups Announced for PFL 5 on June 17

Professional Fighters League has unveiled the card for its final regular season event for welterweights and light heavyweights.

The promotion announced on Wednesday that PFL 5 on June 17 will be headlined by a 170-pound clash between Rory MacDonald and Gleison Tibau, while defending welterweight champ Ray Cooper III will square off against Nikolai Aleksakhin in the co-main event. Returning 205-pound king Emiliano Sordi will meet Dan Spohn in another main card matchup, while Cezar Mutante will lock horns with Chris Camozzi to round out the main draw, which is televised on ESPN2.

The preliminary card, which airs on ESPN2, is as follows: Antonio Carlos Jr. vs. Vinny Magalhaes at light heavyweight; Marthin Hamlet vs. Cory Hendricks at light heavyweight; Joao Zeferino vs. Jason Ponet at welterweight; Magomed Magomedkerimov vs. Curtis Millender at welterweight; Tom Lawlor vs. Jordan Young at light heavyweight and Sadibou Sy vs. Alexey Kunchenko at welterweight.

“There were a lot of exciting first round finishes that took place in the first half of the season for the welterweight and light heavyweight divisions and all of these fighters know it may take another first round victory to seal their fates in the playoffs,” PFL president Ray Sefo said. “All these fighters can still qualify for the PFL playoffs and know it will be a challenge as they face a win or go home scenario. I can’t wait to see what happens next on June 17.” 

MacDonald, one of the promotion’s most prized free-agent acquisitions, enjoyed a successful debut, as he submitted Millender 3:38 into the opening round of their bout at PFL 2 on April 29.

Tibau, meanwhile, dropped a unanimous verdict to Joao Zeferino in his debut at PFL 2. The Brazilian was making his first welterweight appearance after a lengthy UFC tenure at 155 pounds.