If you’re upset with the UFC over its last-minute decision to move UFC 232 from Las Vegas to the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., then take a look at the Professional Fighters League, which will have six championship fights on New Year’s Eve at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden.
Six MMA fighters will become instant millionaires that night.
We’ll get to the mess the UFC made later. Monday night’s matches will include the finals of a new format of competition that featured a regular season and playoffs, with quarterfinal matches, semifinals and now the championships, which will be televised by NBCSN and streamed on Facebook Watch.
The concept of the league, which made its debut on June 7 at the Hulu Theater, is there are six weight classes consisting of 145 pounds, 155, 170, 185, 205 and heavyweight.
Initially there were 12 fighters in each weight class. Each fighter fought twice during the regular season, earning three points for a victory and bonus points for a stoppage.
The eight fighters with the highest point totals in each division at the end of the regular season reached the playoffs, with the top seed facing the eighth seed and the second seed fighting the seventh, etc. The two finalists in each division meet Monday night, with the winner earning $1 million and the loser settling for $200,000. The total payout for the tournament is $10 million.
“It’s been a fantastic inaugural season,” said Pete Murray, CEO of the league. “We’ve had 10 events during a spectacular regular season that validated the format and our point system. Fans are assured the top talent. The best athletes are going to compete against the best. It’s like six Super Bowls on one night.”
The title matchups are: Ray Cooper III vs. Magomed Magomedkerimov at welterweight; Philipe Lins vs. Josh Copeland at heavyweight; Vinny Magalhaes vs. Sean O’Connell at light heavyweight; Natan Schulte vs. Rashid Magomedov at lightweight; Steven Siler vs. Lance Palmer at featherweight; and Abus Magomedov vs. Louis Taylor at middleweight.“The playoffs were unprecedented to where we had fighters fight twice in one night to get into this championship,” Murray said. “The sentiment among fans has been extremely positive. We will be the leader in the next evolution of MMA.”
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison will also take on Moriel Charneski in a special feature bout. Harrison is 2-0 in the PFL’s 155-pound women’s division after winning her MMA debut in June in Chicago with an arm-bar in the first round, and capturing a third-round TKO in her second bout in August in Atlantic City.
“I’m pumped,” Harrison said. “Not only do I get to compete at Madison Square Garden, but I get to do it on New Year’s Eve in front of millions of people watching and a packed crowd. I’m ready to ring in 2019.”
The excitement surrounding a new league culminating its inaugural season is a contrast to the UFC moving Saturday night’s event to California after the Nevada Athletic Commission wouldn’t grant former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones a license.
The NAC wants to hold a hearing after the USDA discovered adverse findings in Jones’ drug tests dating back to August.The UFC insists it had no choice but to move the entire card, leaving fans traveling to Las Vegas without an event.
Jones, who hasn’t fought since July 2017 because of various suspensions, is scheduled to meet Alexander Gustafsson in the co-main event.
It will be a rematch of their first meeting in 2013 at UFC 165 in Toronto. Jones won a unanimous decision, though many felt Gustafsson should have won on points.
Meanwhile, the co-main event is every bit as intriguing, with bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes moving up in weight to challenge Cris Cyborg for her UFC women’s featherweight belt.
All those who bought flights and hotels for Las Vegas can watch it on pay-per-view.