Reclaiming Glory: 2025 PFL World Tournament

After the first round of the 2025 PFL World Tournament, several former champions still remain in their respective brackets. The Professional Fighters League abandoned its regular-season points format and moved to a single-elimination tournament setup, with eight participants per weight class. The tournament has allowed former champions from the PFL and Bellator MMA to return to the spotlight by giving them the chance to add another title to their resumes.

An updated look at the remaining former champions, as they move toward reclaiming glory:

Jesus Pinedo

The 2023 PFL champion missed all of 2024 and returned with a vengeance in the opening round of the 2025 PFL World Tournament. He faced Adam Borics, who was considered one of the favorites in the featherweight bracket, and Pinedo wasted no time in providing a reminder as to how well his skills play at this level. By finishing Borics in the first round, Pinedo is now set to complete a trilogy with rival Gabriel Braga in the semifinals. Pinedo defeated Braga for the 2023 title, and both fighters are looking to secure their spot in the tournament championship in one of the most intriguing semifinal bouts. The first major MMA champion out of Peru, Pinedo has a chance to win a PFL regular-season belt and a tournament championship just three years into his tenure with the company.

Movlid Khaybulaev

Another fighter who had not competed for PFL since 2023, Khaybulaev, picked up a victory in his opening-round matchup. Facing Jeremy Kennedy to begin the featherweight tournament, Khaybulaev picked up his first victory in the promotion since 2023 by way of split decision. Still undefeated in his career outside of one no contest, Khaybulaev is similar to Pinedo in the fact that has something to prove this year. He will get another big test from Tae Kyun Kim in the semifinals, with the winner advancing to face either Braga or Pinedo. The featherweight bracket is full of former champions looking to get back to glory, and Khaybulaev should now be considered a favorite in the featherweight tournament.

Gadzhi Rabadanov

After winning the 2024 PFL lightweight championship, Rabadanov could have waited on his next challenge to come to him. Instead, he wasted no time in his first-round matchup against veteran Marc Diakese. Rabadanov took all of 32 seconds to close out his first-round matchup and will now face a rising prospect in Jay Jay Wilson in the semifinals. Rabadanov ran through the 2024 season—he grabbed all four victories in decisive fashion—and is the only reigning champion to be a part of the 2025 tournament. With the PFL Champions Series stage set for later this year, Rabadanov will have no shortage of options, no matter the outcome of his run in the tournament. Another fighter who should be considered a favorite, Rabadanov has not shown any signs of slowing down in his incredible tenure with the PFL.

Jason Jackson

There is no other fighter or former champion on this list who has the spotlight going into his semifinal matchup like Jackson. After a second-round submission victory over Andrey Koreshkov, Jackson awaited his next opponent, and that became a young rising prospect in Thad Jean. After they finished their respective fights, Jackson and Jean faced off, with shoving between them and words exchanged, to set the stage for their welterweight semifinal matchup. Jackson has a championship pedigree that is hard to match, and his first-round tournament performance only added to his aura. There will be no shortage of attention when he takes on Jean, and the winner of that matchup could find himself as the biggest star under the PFL banner.

Logan Storley

A former Bellator interim champion, Storley faced a last-minute opponent change when he was set to square off against Magomed Umalatov but instead took on Joseph Luciano and defeated him by unanimous decision. Storley is now set to face Masayuki Kikuiri in the welterweight semifinals. The championship will see the winner of that matchup face either Jackson or Jean. Storley has been known for his dominant wrestling throughout his career and showcased that in his first-round victory. With no outside circumstances influencing how he would need to win his fight and advance like it was taking place during the 2024 season, Storley can stick to what he knows in order to keep winning in the tournament.

Phil Davis

Not letting age become a factor in his career or inhibit his entering the tournament this year, Davis took a tough light heavyweight quarterfinal matchup against Rob Wilkinson and made an emphatic statement with his victory. After looking as if he lost the first round, it took all of 51 seconds in the second for Davis to land a devastating punch and follow it with ground-and-pound to close the show and advance to the semifinals. Davis will face another young contender in Sullivan Cauley, who was out of action in 2024 but picked up the seventh first-round victory of his young career in his 2025 debut. It will be a test of the former champion against a young rising fighter who is worthy of the opportunity—a true gauge of where Davis stands at this stage of his career. He can silence more critics with a victory over the young Cauley.

Antonio Carlos Jr.

Returning to action after a down 2024 season, Carlos Jr. was a beneficiary of the new tournament style and legal rules in his opening fight. Taking on Karl Moore, Carlos Jr. used a lot of grappling and elbows to pull off a split decision victory over the Irishman and get back in the win column. Another veteran and former champion who will face a young fighter in the light heavyweight tournament, Carlos Jr. is set to face England’s Simeon Powell in the semifinals. The light heavyweight tournament consists of veterans looking to keep their spots at the top and young fighters looking to rip it away.

Valentin Moldavsky

In one of the more controversial fights in the opening round, Moldavsky picked up a unanimous decision victory over Sergey Bilostenniy to advance in the tournament. The former interim Bellator heavyweight champion was coming off a 1-1 year with the PFL and did just enough to get the judges nod to move on to the semifinals. Moldavsky will now face Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Alexander Romanov, who made his statement to the promotion with a first-round submission win over Tim Johnson. There are several veterans in the heavyweight bracket, and Moldavsky will have no easy path in his road to the championship.

Liz Carmouche

Coming into the women’s flyweight tournament, Carmouche revealed that part of her motivation involved her desire to check off her own personal bucket list. Mission accomplished for the former Bellator champion, who has enjoyed quite the run of success in the back half of her career. Carmouche said she wanted to get a body-shot finish and followed through with it in her fight against Ilara Joanne. Carmouche will now face a young undefeated Brazilian in Elora Dana in what will be yet another veteran-versus-prospect matchup featured in this PFL world tournament. The bucket list is not complete for Carmouche, who will likely reveal more of what she hopes to do this year when the fight arrives.