PFL‘s CEO John Martin announced the first headliner of 2026 this morning. Martin is changing the way the promotion is doing things and gone are the tournaments and seasons. The promotion is going to focus on putting on the best cards possible and their first 2026 event goes down in Dubai on February 7th.
In the main event, lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov (20-0, 1 NC) will make the first defense of his lightweight title as he takes on 2025 PFL Lightweight World Tournament Champion Alfie Davis (20-5-1).
Davis was an underdog for much of the lightweight tournament last year, but nobody told him that. Davis knocked out Clay Collard in the opening round and then he won a decision over former Bellator champion Brent Primus. In the finals, he pulled off a massive upset over 2024 champion Gadzhi Rabadanov.
Usman Nurmagomedov rose to stardom in Bellator winning the lightweight title and then winning their Lightweight Grand Prix. After the PFL acquired Bellator, Nurmagomedov defended his title against Alexander Shabliy in the champions series.
Following that, Nurmagomedov had two very close fights with Paul Hughes where he won a majority and unanimous decision. Now, he’ll look to defeat last year’s tournament champion in his first official PFL title defense.
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