Can they do it again? The defending PFL champions will most likely keep the title in the 2023 season

If you’ve ever watched a PFL night, you know the company organizes its program differently from other mixed martial arts promotions. In a sport fueled by star power and talking about a good game, the PFL’s season format shifts the focus to real combat results. Viral tweets and trash talk didn’t earn boxers a single point on the season standings, but finishing in the first round was practically an automatic ticket to the knockout stages.

And when those knockouts end with a boxer winning the season championship, is that the beginning of a title dynasty – like in other fighting organizations – or simply simply the end of the road to glory paved with gold? Perhaps a bit of both.

Back in November, the PFL ended the 2022 season by being crowned champions in six weight divisions. But when the 2023 season starts on Saturday (GAME + at 5:30 p.m. ET), two champions fight on cards, feather class Brendan Loughnane and light weight Rob Wilkinson, would not exactly be a belt guard. How is that possible? Well, if one of them loses this weekend, their opponent won’t be the new champion, right? But make no mistake: Every PFL roster from last season will enter this season with a possessive attitude.

Go ahead and try to take what’s mine.

Of course, in the PFL and every other fighting promotion, it’s practically inevitable that championships will change hands. Of the six PFL champions of the 2022 season, guess how many are also 2021 champions. Zero. In the tournament’s four completed seasons, only four boxers have won the championship in consecutive seasons. For the most part, each season begins as a clear leaderboard in which the name of a new champion will be engraved.

Here’s an overview of the 2022 champions, all back for more, sorted by rank from most repeatable to least likely:

Lightweight: Robert Wilkinson

Beginning of the season: Saturday vs Thiago Santos

Most difficult obstacle: Krzysztof Jotko

Wilkinson doesn’t have a smooth road ahead in his division after the PFL imported two former UFC fighters to take on him. Santos, his opponent on Saturday, used to knock Jon Jones came to a split decision, but now he is 39 years old. So it’s likely that the other boxer, Jotko, will have more problems, if his promotion from middleweight doesn’t slow him down.

But whoever is facing him, Wilkinson will be hard to beat. He earned this top spot with a formidable run to the 2022 championship: 4-0, all by knockout. The Australian hasn’t lost a match since 2017, going back to his UFC days when he went up against an Octagon debutant named Israel Adesanya.

Featherweight: Brendan Loughnane

Beginning of the season: Saturday vs Marlon Moraes

Most difficult obstacle: Movlid Khaybulaev

Loughnane faces some tough tests this season – but he’s seen all of them before. His last two wins en route to the championship last year were overwhelming performances before Chris Wade And Bubba Jenkins, and the two turned to fire another shot at him. And then there was Khaybulaev, the undefeated champion of 2021, who let Loughnane lose his only PFL that year. An injury sidelined Khaybulaev for much of last season, so Loughnane has no chance of a payback – perhaps until this season.

Women’s feather class: Larissa Pacheco

Beginning of the season: April 7 vs. Julia Budd

Most difficult obstacle: Aspen Ladd

Pacheco isn’t technically the defending champion as she won the 2022 lightweight title, which has since been replaced by the 10-pound lighter. Pacheco proved himself strong enough at 155 pounds to land a terrifying blow of Kayla Harrison in the finals last year. How will 145 fit her? We’ll get a hint right away, as Pacheco opens the season with Budd, Bellator’s former featherweight champion.

And while Pacheco is losing weight, she also needs to watch out for someone who is gaining weight. Ladd competed in bantamweight during her UFC stint, but because she lost weight multiple times, the transition to featherweight was long overdue. Can Ladd handle Pacheco and other top fighters in the new division?

Light: Olivier Aubin-Mercier

Beginning of the season: April 14 vs. Shane Burgos

Most difficult obstacle: Burgos

The PFL wasted no time booking what could be the battle of the season. Aubin-Mercier looked striking winning all four of his games last year. Two of those wins go to past champions – 2021 title list Raush Manfio and champions in 2018 and 2019 Natan Schulte. But Burgos poses a different level of challenge. He competed in featherweight in the UFC, beating everyone who came before him aside from the upperclassmen (Edson Barboza, Josh Emmett And Calvin Kattar). OAM has cut jobs for him, but that can only push his game to the next level.

Welding weight: Sadibou Sy

Beginning of the season: April 14 vs. Jarrah Al-Silawi

Most difficult obstacle: Magomed Magomedkerimov

Sy has been around since the beginning of the PFL, which had its inaugural season in 2018 after being renamed from the World Series of Fighting. He’s had his ups and downs – except last season, it was all up, up, up. But even with a 4-0 lead on the way to the championship, Sy did not wreak havoc on the opponent. And at some point, he’ll have to take on Magomedkerimov, the man who most recently failed Sy in a 2021 battle that wasn’t particularly close. Magomedkerimov has struggled to get into the cage since winning the championship in 2018, with 5 games canceled during his PFL run. But when he does fight, Magomedkerimov is hard to beat.

heavyweight: Ante Delija

Beginning of the season: TBD

Most difficult obstacle: Bruno Cappelozza

The reality The most difficult obstacle for Delija is the calendar. He withdrew from his scheduled season opener due to an unspecified injury, and although the PFL has given no indication he will miss the season, it is a Hard mission to win knockout points in just one match. Then again, Delija has the explosiveness to get the job done – his two playoff wins last year were both first-round knockout wins, helping to earn a dark score. on the leaderboard. However, he remains on the field with Cappelozza, who has beaten him twice, including in the 2021 championship final. Even if Delija doesn’t start the season a step behind, he still there is some work to do.