Fight Facts: 2023 PFL 3

Fight Facts is a breakdown of all of the interesting information and cage curiosities on every card, with some puns, references and portmanteaus to keep things fun. These deep stat dives delve into the numbers, providing historical context and telling the stories behind those numbers.

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TOTAL NUMBER OF PFL FIGHTS: 899
TOTAL NUMBER OF PFL EVENTS: 99

The Professional Fighters League trotted out welterweights, lightweights and a couple of leftover heavyweights to tie up its first portion of the 2023 Regular Season. The 170-pounders largely stole the show, with quick finishes and thrilling encounters littering the lineup. PFL 2023 3 featured the breaking of an exhausting record, a few past champs violently marking their territories again and a destructive showcase for the Russian competitors.

Anti-Jinx Stat: A string of seven consecutive matches all went the distance on the card, from Clay Collard-Yamato Nishikawa to Raush Manfio-Alex Martinez. This stretch of seven straight 15-minute affairs had never occurred in PFL history, while PFL 9 2018 featured seven two-round bouts going the distance in a row.

They All Concurred: All seven decisions on the card were unanimous verdicts. This event ties PFL 6 2018 and PFL 1 2021 for the second-most of any single fight card for the company. PFL: Everett in 2017 featured eight.

155-Pound Anguish: Of all six weight categories currently vying for $1 million prizes, lightweights were the only ones to not procure a single finish. As a result, five victors are all tied with three points each, with no fighter out of contention yet.

Welterwonderful: While every 155-pound tilt heard the final bell on Friday, the same could not be said for the welterweights. Four of those five concluded with stoppages, the most of any weight class this season.

Stock Up on Liver Aid: By putting Jarrah Al-Silawi away with a knee to the body and follow-up punches, Sadibou Sy became the first fighter in organizational history to record multiple body shot stoppages. He previously wiped out David Michaud with a body kick back in 2019.

Return of the King: Starting off his 2023 season by claiming the top position at welterweight, Magomed Magomedkerimov demolished Ben Egli with a head kick in 63 seconds to earn himself six points. The triumphant Magomedkerimov moved to a second-place tie with Kayla Harrison with the most wins in company history (14 each). Lance Palmer’s 16 are the most.

MMK All Day, Every Day: Dagestan’s Magomedkerimov entered into his 15th contest on the World Series of Fighting-PFL roster by facing Egli. He is now one of seven to amass that many fights under the banner, in a feat that Sy also achieved.

May Pass That in June: Both Magomedkerimov and Harrison sport .933 win percentages as PFL fighters. This is the highest for any competitor with over 10 appearances in league history.

Destined for Decision: After three rounds, Manfio topped Martinez by decision. Six of the seven appearances with PFL for Manfio have heard the final bell. Not to be outdone, Martinez has still yet to encounter a finish, win or lose, in any of his seven PFL fights.

Glaring Holes in the Game: Nayib Lopez Miranda made good on his PFL debut by outpointing Shane Mitchell. The Mexican fighter is now a perfect 16-0 as a pro, and even with a finish rate below 50%, he has earned stoppages in three of his last five dating back to 2020.

Shutdown Schulte: Natan Schulte outworked Steven Ray to pick up three points and the decision win. Schulte’s eight wins at the hands of the judges in PFL sits him with the second-most in promotional history, trailing only Palmer (10).

Aubin-Merciless: Staving off recent signee Shane Burgos, Olivier Aubin-Mercier picked up three points at lightweight to lift his flawless PFL record to 7-0. Only one finish in those seven outings has materialized for the Canadian, who came into the PFL with just two previous wins via decision.

Perfectly Picked Shots: In the lone heavyweight contest, Denis Goltsov blew Cezar Ferreira away in just over two minutes with ground-and-pound. The Russian elevated his stoppage rate to 80% while picking up the pole position in the heavyweight bracket.

Spanning the Weight Classes: Ferreira, a former welterweight, took the fight against Goltsov on short notice and weighed about 216 pounds. “Mutante” once faced welterweight Jorge Masvidal, who in turn battled bantamweight Raphael Assuncao in the past, who once conquered flyweight Vaughan Lee.

The Other Magomed: Now a perfect 13-0 after decimating Dilano Taylor in 91 seconds, Magomed Umalatov snagged the no. 2 spot at welterweight with his stoppage. “Prince Magomed” sports a stellar finish rate of 92%, with 11 of 13 wins coming by knockout.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into 2023 PFL 3, Egli had never been finished (18 fights), Lopez Miranda (15 fights) and Mitchell (17 fights) had never competed in the U.S. and Taylor had never dropped consecutive bouts (13 fights).