Preview: 2022 PFL Championships

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Featherweight Championship

Brendan Loughnane (24-4, 7-1 PFL) vs. Bubba Jenkins (19-5, 5-1 PFL)

ODDS: Loughnane (-175), Jenkins (+145)

The co-main event sees a matchup of well-traveled veterans who have enjoyed a fair amount of success in a variety of organizations. A victory here would represent a breakthrough on the biggest stage of either man’s career to date.

A two-time PFL semifinalist, Jenkins entered the 2022 season as one of the favorites in the featherweight field and has delivered on that potential. He was at his most impressive in his playoff bout against Ryoji Kudo, as he landed multiple belly-to-back suplexes before taking his opponent’s back to lock in a rear-naked choke for a first-round submission. A two-time NCAA All-American wrestler, Jenkins is adept at imposing his will through takedowns, clinches and ground-and-pound. If an initial takedown fails, the “Bad Man” will chain together multiple attempts. Jenkins is gifted enough to be dangerous on the feet, though he mostly likes to strike at range, and his best openings for combinations are created because of the pending takedown threat.

Loughnane did not look like a world beater early in the PFL season, as he struggled to victories over Kudo and Ago Huskic. He turned that around with his best performance of the campaign in a semifinal victory over Chris Wade, who is the only fighter to defeat Jenkins in PFL competition. In that bout, Loughnane weathered an early surge to keep Wade off-balance behind consistent stance switches, a crisp jab and damaging right hands. The Englishman is a well-rounded competitor who works well behind good movement, an educated jab and an arsenal of kicks. He is quite competent in the wrestling and grappling aspects of a fight, but he did struggle to remain upright in his lone PFL defeat against Movlid Khaybulaev in 2021. Loughnane has started slowly in all three PFL appearances this season, but that might not hurt him as much over the course of a five-round fight.

Jenkins is the better wrestler, but if Loughnane can make him work through scrambles and submission attempts while consistently returning to his feet—as Wade did—he can gradually take control over the course of a long bout. Loughnane also has the tools to frustrate Jenkins on the feet while racking up points. Look for a quick start from Jenkins before Loughnane pulls away down the stretch for a close decision.

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Harrison vs. Pacheco
Loughnane vs. Jenkins
Delija vs. Scheffel
Aubin-Mercier vs. Ray
Ladd vs. Budd
Sy vs. Taylor
Wilkinson vs. Akhmedov
The Prelims