Summer of Violence – PFL Playoff Season

Overtime Heroics Editorial

303 days ago

Before we can have a look deep into the August portion of our Summer of Violence and PFL Playoff Season, we had UFC 277 go down in Dallas, Texas, with two mind-blowing title fights topping the card! Amanda Nunes regained her 135lb Title from Julianna Peña, while Brandon Moreno made his long-awaited return to the Octagon in his rematch with Kai Kara-France to secure interim gold. Magomed Ankalaev and Anthony Smith ended with an injury for Smith resulting in a TKO, while Derrick Lewis failed to avenge his loss in Houston to Tai Tuivasa and break his Texas curse as he got stopped by now #6 ranked Sergei Pavlovich.

Dana White’s Contender Series continues after a lackluster opening episode that saw the boss walk off set in disappointment. This week featured two undefeated featherweights putting their 0’s on the line as Francis Marshall, who has only seen the scorecards once as a pro, handed off against Connor Matthews his first professional loss as a pro! Serra-Longo trained lightweight, Charlie "the Cannibal" Campbell dominated Scottish Bellator veteran Chris "the Problem" Duncan for the first 90 seconds before getting KO"d stiff. All winners on Tuesday received contracts in stark contrast to last week.

PFL Playoff Season, Baby!

Our Summer of Violence brings us to the much anticipated PFL Playoffs will kick off on August 5th in the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden. Featuring an immediate rematch which gives Anthony Pettis the opportunity to avenge his twister loss to Stevie Ray during the regular season, it’s do-or-die time for Pettis, who is 1-3 in the PFL since being cut from the UFC.

Thiago Santos and Jamahal Hill face off the next day, as Hill attempts to catapult himself into the Top 5, while Santos attempts to string together more than one win in a row for the first time since fighting Jon Jones. Terrance McKinney also makes his return after almost killing Drew Dober on short notice, only to be immediately turned around and himself KO"d. This card will also serve as the finale of TUF 30, as Welterweight Champion and P4P King, Kamaru Usman’s brother, Mohammed Usman faces off against Team Peña teammate, Zac Pauga. Brogan Walker-Sanchez serves as Team Nunes’ only hope at victory against Brogan Walker.

On August 10th, Free- and Folkstyle wrestling legend, Bo Nickal makes his second Pro MMA outing following his 33-second KO over fellow debutante John Noland at iKON FC 3 back in June, as he headlines Week 3 of DWCS.

Austin Vanderford hopes to put himself right back into title contention at Bellator 284 on August 12th, as he opens the main card against Anthony Adams, while Neiman Gracie takes on surging Goiti Yamauchi in what could prove to be a title eliminator.

August 13th provides the potential for a high point of our Summer of Violence, as the PFL playoff season goes international as they hold their Welter- and Heavyweight PFL playoff in the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales, which features a headlining bout between PFL Season 5 Semi-Finalist Rory MacDonald taking on undefeated Magomed Umalatov. This goes head-to-head with Cage Warriors 142, which features Sam Creasey putting his flyweight title on the line against Stipe Brčić, who is making his CW debut. Finally, as if that wasn’t enough MMA for August 13th, the UFC returns to San Diego, CA for Fight Night: Vera vs. Cruz, as Marlon Vera attempts to put himself into the waist-deep bantamweight title picture.

The remainder of our Summer of Violence is equally as stacked, so make sure to stay tuned with Overtime Heroics for all your fight news!