The ''PFL 7''

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

event for the 2021 season of the

Professional Fighters League The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is an American mixed martial arts league founded by venture capitalist Donn Davis in 2017 and launched in 2018, following the acquisition and restructuring of the former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) promot ...

was held on August 13, 2021. This was the start of the playoffs for the

Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

and

Lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

divisions. This event aired on

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...

, with the prelims on

ESPN+ ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

Background

Rory MacDonald and

Ray Cooper III Raynald "Ray" Cooper III (born February 7, 1993) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Welterweight division of the Professional Fighters League (PFL), where he is the two-time Welterweight champion. A professional competi ...

headlined the first PFL playoff card, with the

and

playoffs holding their semifinal bouts. MacDonald made his third appearance with PFL cage, going 1-1 in the regular season, with his most recent outing being a highly controversial decision loss to

Gleison Tibau Janigleison Herculano Alves, better known as Gleison Tibau (; born July 10, 1983) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently competing in the Lightweight division of Professional Fighters League. A professional since 1999, he has competed for ...

. He took on the former PFL champion Cooper, who was 2-0 during the regular season in 2021. The Lightweight bracket saw UFC and boxing veteran

Clay Collard Clay Collard (born March 10, 1993) is an American professional mixed martial artist and boxer. A professional since 2011, he formerly competed for the UFC. He currently competes in the lightweight division of the Professional Fighters League. ...

take on

Raush Manfio Raush Manfio Lourenço (born November 3, 1991) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist who competes in the lightweight division of the Professional Fighters League. On October 27, 2021, he won the PFL lightweight championship belt. Figh ...

while Loik Radzhabov and Alexander Martinez fought in the other lightweight semifinal. Featured additions included a lightweight contest include two-time PFL champion Natan Schulte taking on 12-time UFC veteran

Olivier Aubin-Mercier Olivier Aubin-Mercier (; born February 23, 1989) is a Canadian mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division of the Professional Fighters League. He formerly competed for the UFC until October 2019 when he became a free agent. A pr ...

, as well as planned bout with Swedish PFL vet Sadibou Sy facing 28-time UFC veteran

. On August 4, it was announced that João Zeferino was out of his Semi-Final match-up against Magomed Magomedkerimov, with #5 ranked Sadibou Sy taking his place.

Curtis Millender Curtis Marquir Millender (born December 1, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 2013, Millender has formerly competed in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Bellato ...

(replacing Sy) was then scheduled to face

. Natan Schulte was also announced to have been scratched, with

now fighting

Darrell Horcher Darrell Joseph Horcher (born July 28, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division. A professional since 2010, he formerly competed for the UFC, Bellator and the Cage Fury Fighting Championships, where he wa ...

. Lastly, Nikolay Aleksakhin was removed from his bout against Brett Cooper, with Cooper now facing Tyler Hill. On August 12, Millender was announced to have pulled out of the bout against Tibau, so Tibau instead faced Micah Terrill, while Magomed Umalatov faced Leandro Silva. At weigh-ins,

and Leandro Silva weighed in at 159.25 and 172.5 pounds, missing weight by 3.25 and 1.5 pounds respectively. The bouts proceeded at catchweight and they were fined 20% of their purses, which went to their opponents

and Magomed Umalatov respectively.

Results

2021 PFL Welterweight playoffs

2021 PFL Lightweight playoffs

References

{{2021 in mixed martial arts Professional Fighters League 2021 in mixed martial arts August 2021 sports events in the United States Events in Hollywood, Florida

Background

Results

2021 PFL Welterweight playoffs

2021 PFL Lightweight playoffs

See also

References