The ''PFL 7''

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

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 th ...

and

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

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 ...

, with the prelims on

ESPN+ ESPN+ is an American over-the-top subscription video streaming service available in the United States, owned by ESPN Inc., which is a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communicati ...

Background

Rory MacDonald and Ray Cooper III 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 Welterweight division. A professional since 1999, he has competed for the UFC, Professional Fighters ...

. 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 take on

Raush Manfio Raush Manfio Lourenço (born November 3, 1991) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist who competes in the lightweight division. A professional since 2011, Manfio is most notable for winning the 2021 Professional Fighters League Lightwe ...

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 retired mixed martial artist who competed in the Lightweight division. Fighting from 2011 to 2023, Aubin-Mercier competed for the Professional Fighters League, where he won the 2022 ...

, as well as planned bout with Swedish PFL vet

Sadibou Sy Sadibou Sy (born November 27, 1986) is a Swedish mixed martial artist who competes in the Light Heavyweight division of the Professional Fighters League. Background Sadibou Sy, a mixed martial artist with Senegalese roots, grew up ...

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 Magomed Magomedkerimov (; born 1 October 1990) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Welterweight division of Professional Fighters League (PFL). Early life Magomed was born in the small Dagestani village o ...

, with #5 ranked

taking his place.

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

(replacing Sy) was then scheduled to face

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

now fighting Darrell Horcher. 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 Magomed Nasrulayevich Umalatov (; born April 3, 1992) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Welterweight division of the Professional Fighters League (PFL). He was the winner of the 2018 SMRF Welterweight G ...

faced Leandro Silva. At weigh-ins, Darrell Horcher 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

respectively.

Results

2021 PFL Welterweight playoffs

2021 PFL Lightweight playoffs

References

{{2021 in mixed martial arts Professional Fighters League events 2021 in mixed martial arts August 2021 sports events in the United States Organized events in Hollywood, Florida Sports competitions in Broward County, Florida 2021 in sports in Florida

Background

Results

2021 PFL Welterweight playoffs

2021 PFL Lightweight playoffs

See also

References