Claressa
Shields will face Abigail
Montes at the 2021
#PFLChampionship on Wednesday, October 27th!
https://t.co/WYQE9B4A9y— PFL (@PFLMMA)
August 12, 2021
The
Professional Fighters League 2021 Season Championship will end
earlier than usual.
On Thursday morning, the PFL revealed that this year’s finals would
go down on Wednesday, Oct. 27, at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
in Hollywood, Florida. The promotion used to hold the championship
fights on New Year’s Eve as the previous editions went down on Dec.
31, 2018, and Dec. 21, 2019, respectively. Fans can already buy
their tickets for the event, with tickets prices ranging from $30
to $175. As always, the finale will see two fighters from each of
the six divisions who made their way to finals competing for the
much-coveted $1 million prize.
“There is no better place to welcome fans back in-person than at
the 2021 PFL World Championship as $6 million and six world titles
will be up for grabs on October 27,” said PFL CEO Peter Murray.
“The biggest night in MMA gets boosted by the return of Claressa
Shields to the PFL SmartCage, and we can’t wait to deliver an
unforgettable night for the more than 550 million MMA fans around
the world with our great partners at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel &
Casino and ESPN.”
The card will also feature the return of two-time Olympic gold
medalist Claressa
Shields, who will take on Abigail
Montes. The 26-year-old Shields (1-0, 1-0 PFL) was successful
in her MMA debut as she stopped Brittney
Elkin with punches in the third stanza of the 2021’s PFL 4
headliner. “T-Rex” crossed over to MMA after a successful boxing
career that saw her capture the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO titles
simultaneously across two weight divisions. The 21-year-old
Combate Global vet Montes (2-0, 0-0 PFL) is making her
promotional debut after scoring a unanimous decision and a
second-round TKO in her latest appearances.
The next PFL event will take place on Aug. 13, and it will be the
first installment of this year’s playoffs. The bill is headlined by
a welterweight clash between former Bellator
MMA 170-pound titleholder Rory
MacDonald and Ray Cooper
III. In the co-main event, Magomed Magomedkeri-mov (27-5, 9-0
PFL) will square off with Sadibou Sy
(9-5-2 1NC, 3-3-2 1 NC PFL). Also on the card, the 155-pound
playoffs will see
Ultimate Fighting Championship vet Clay
Collard (20-8, 2-0 PFL) facing Raush
Manfio (13-3, 2-0 PFL) while 2019 lightweight runner-up
Loik
Radzhabov (14-3-1, 3-3-1 PFL) takes on Alexander
Martinez (8-1, 1-1 PFL) once again.