Tomorrow night on ESPN, the PFL playoffs continue. For their ninth event of the 2021 season, the light heavyweights and featherweights will take center stage as we see another round of the PFL playoffs.
Opening up the card tomorrow night at PFL 9 is going to be the light heavyweight playoffs. The first matchup of the evening features UFC vet Cezar Ferreira (14-9) taking on the Norwegian, Marthin Hamlet (7-2).
Both men enter this playoff contest coming off losses in their last matchups. Ferreira lost a decision to Chris Camozzi while Hamlet was submitted by Cory Hendricks. Despite the losses, both men still had a spot in the PFL playoffs.
It’ll be an interesting battle tomorrow night. I’m expecting Ferreira to strike from range while Hamlet will be pushing the action looking to get takedowns. He can be successful if he can get Ferriera tired, but he really needs to watch out for the Brazilian’s submission game.
In the other light heavyweight contest we will see 2019 PFL champion Emiliano Sordi (23-8-1) take on Antonio Carlos Junior (11-5). Both men enter this contest coming off draws in their last fight. Sordi fought to a draw with Dan Spohn while Carlos Junior fought to a draw with Vinny Magalhaes.
To start the PFL season, Carlos Junior submitted Tom Lawler which snapped a losing streak dating back to his time in the UFC. Sordi is looking to punch his ticket to the finals for the second consecutive season. The draw with Spohn snapped a six-fight win streak.
PFL Featherweights and Predictions
The two featured playoff matchups for the PFL tomorrow night come from the featherweight division. In the co-main event, we will see a matchup between Bubba Jenkins (16-4) and Chris Wade (19-6).
Since making the jump to the PFL from the UFC, Wade has gone 7-3 with the promotion. So far, he’s 2-0 this season and in his last fight he secured a knockout win over Arman Ospanov in the second round.
Prior to his time with PFL, Jenkins spent the majority of his career with Bellator. 2021 is Jenkins’ first season with the Professional Fighters League and thus far he’s 2-0 with wins over Bobby Moffett and former champion Lance Palmer.
In the main event of PFL 9, we will see English striker Brendan Loughnane (21-3) take on the Dagestani grappler Movlid Khaybulaev (17-0-1, 1 NC). As you can see, Khaybulaev has never lost in his professional career in 19 fights.
In his career, he’s used that classic Dagestani style of wrestling to suffocate his opponents. He will look to do that to Loughnane tomorrow night. Loughnane got one shot in the UFC early on his career and loss.
He then appeared on Dana White’s Contender Series where he won, but still wasn’t brought into the UFC. Instead, Loughnane ended up with PFL where he’s gone 4-0 so far with the promotion. Tomorrow night, he’s going to look to keep things standing and avoid the takedowns of Khaybulaev.
Predictions:Â
- Brendan Loughnane vs Movlid Khaybulaev (Khaybulaev by Unanimous Decision)
- Bubba Jenkins vs Chris Wade (Jenkins by Unanimous Decision)
- Emiliano Sordi vs Antonio Carlos Junior (Sordi by TKO – Round 2)
- Cezar Ferreira vs Marthin Hamlet (Ferreira by Submission – Round 1)