Fight Facts: 2023 PFL 6

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: 934
TOTAL NUMBER OF PFL EVENTS: 102

The Professional Fighters League said farewell to its regular season with an event that will leave people talking for quite some time. One of the strangest matches in company history played out on the prelims between former champs, and the ramifications are still developing. PFL 6 featured a fighter that made the playoffs for a little under 12 hours, some beautiful Canada on Canada violence and an instant “Knockout of the Year” contender.

Oh My, Canada: Blowing fellow Canadian Anthony Romero out of the water with a knee, Olivier Aubin-Mercier claimed the no. 2 seed in the lightweight division with his four-point finish. Currently 8-0 with the promotion, he trails only Justin Gaethje and David Branch’s perfect 10-0 careers with the company.

Disabled Mitchell’s Physics Function: To punch his ticket into the 170-pound playoffs, Sadibou Sy performed the first spinning wheel kick knockout in organizational history when he demolished Shane Mitchell.

Postseason Emeritus: The playoff-clinching win is Sy’s fifth, making him the lone combatant to reach the postseason in all five PFL tourneys. He has done so across two weight categories of middleweight and welterweight.

PFL-Household Name: Both Sy and fellow PFL 6 combatant Magomed Magomedkerimov competed for the 16th time as World Series of Fighting-PFL fighters. This places them in club with a membership of six with over 15 appearances for the organization.

Get Out Your Fishing Poles: For his first win under the promotional banner, Shane Burgos outworked Yamato Nishikawa and claimed three points at lightweight. As a result of a subsequent PFL decision, Burgos slides into the playoffs as the fourth seed, instead of replacing the man ousted.

Kerimov Package: Dusting David Zawada with strikes, Magomedkerimov picked up six points to max out with 12. He is only one of three fighters this season to secure two first-round finishes, joining Denis Goltsov and Josh Silveira.

Records Always Meant to Be Broken: In victory, Magomedkerimov notched his 15th win on the roster. This puts him alone in second place for the most all-time. Lance Palmer’s 16 remain the lone tally above him, which could be reached or surpassed this year.

A Magomed by Any Other Name: Sporting a spectacular PFL win percentage of .938, “MMK” leads the pack of 15 fighters that have engaged in over 10 bouts with the promotion.

The Magomed Special: The perfect record of Magomed Umalatov grew to 14-0 when he took home a decision over Nayib Lopez – for just his second career win on the scorecards. The three points were enough to squeak him into the playoffs with the fourth seed at 170 pounds.

That Boxing Experience Paid Off: Clay Collard punched out Steven Ray to take the top spot in the lightweight bracket. The knockout snapped a seven-fight decision streak for “Cassius Clay,” spanning his whole PFL tenure and more.

Preparing for Revenge: By blasting Dilano Taylor in the second round, Carlos Leal Miranda not only earned the no. 2 seed in the welterweight bracket, but he also set himself up for a rematch. In August, he will face the lone man to beat him since 2014: Sy.

Bad Bad Bad Bad Bad: Natan Schulte and Raush Manfio engaged in three rounds of sparring, with Schulte earning the decision win. The PFL has since annulled the points from his win, due to the intentionally noncompetitive nature of the match. As a result, Schulte has been thrown out of the playoffs, and the company re-seeded its bracket instead of adding Burgos as the alternate.

Nice, Bruno: Securing the third seed at lightweight on the heels of two decision wins – the last one over Alex Martinez – Bruno Miranda lowered his career finish rate to 69%. Five of his last six outings have reached the third round.

Even the First Round Wouldn’t Be Enough: Trying valiantly to get into the next bracket with just a single victory, Solomon Renfro blew Jarrah Al-Silawi away in the second round. The five-point performance not enough to advance, he is nevertheless one of just three fighters this season to pull off finishes in their lone tourney appearance.

Everlasting Jawbreaker: With the grip not under the chin but across the jaw, Lamar Brown surrendered to a face crank from Abdullah Al-Qahtani in 95 seconds. His loss from this move is just the second recorded in organizational history.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into 2023 PFL 6, Romero (13 fights) and Brown (five fights) had never been finished, Lopez had never been defeated (16 fights) and Brahyan Zurcher had never earned a knockout (five fights).