Justin Willis

PFL announces heavyweight matchups featuring Fabricio Werdum – Renan Ferreira

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PFL is gearing up for the start of their heavyweight season. The promotion has announced it’s first round of matchups which will take place on May 6th on ESPN. Headlining the card is former UFC heavyweight champion, Fabricio Werdum (24-9-1).

PFL made a number of big signings in 2020. While the promotion held no fights last year, they went to work in gearing up for their biggest season yet. One of their biggest signings was the former UFC champion.

Werdum is coming off of a huge win against Alexander Gustafsson and the 43 year old is ready to make a run at the PFL heavyweight title. In his first matchup, Werdum will be taking on fellow Brazilian, Renan Ferreira (6-2).

Ferreira will be making his debut with the promotion. The last time he fought was in 2019 when he took on current UFC heavyweight, Jared Vanderaa. Ferreira won that fight by submission.

Ferreira is a huge heavyweight standing 6’8 and usually weighing around the heavyweight limit of 265 pounds. All six of his wins have come via TKO or submission so you know that he’s not going to make Werdum’s PFL debut easy.

Other PFL heavyweight matchups

There are several other key matchups in this initial heavyweight round for PFL. One guy to watch would be the 2019 champion Ali Isaev (9-0). The Dagestani heavyweight will be taking on Hatef Moeil (10-4).

Moeil will enter PFL having won six fights in a row including wins over James McSweeney and Ricco Rodriguez. Another heavyweight I have my eyes on is Mohammed Usman (7-1). Usman is the younger brother of UFC welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman.

Mohammed Usman will be making his PFL debut against Brandon Sayles (5-1). UFC veteran Justin Willis (8-2) also makes his return for this upcoming season in PFL. Willis hasn’t fought since his loss to Curtis Blaydes. That loss in 2019 snapped an eight-fight win streak.

In his debut, Willis will be taking on Russian contender, Denis Goltsov (25-6). Goltsov lost to Isaev in the semi-finals of the 2019 season. This is arguably the matchup I’m the most excited about. The 2021 PFL heavyweight season should be a good one and I’m excited for it to get going.

Sizing up PFL’s 2021 heavyweight season

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PFL is currently gearing up for their return for the 2021 season. After COVID cancelled the 2020 season, the promotion is ready to hit the ground running this year. While no fights took place in 2020, PFL sure stayed in the news with a number of big signings.

One of the biggest signings for PFL in 2020 was Fabricio Werdum (24-9-1). The former UFC heavyweight champion completed his contract with the UFC back in July on Fight Island. That night, Werdum welcomed Alexander Gustafsson to the heavyweight division.

In reality, it smelled like a showcase for Gustafsson. Werdum looked awful against Alexey Oleynik in May where he lost a split decision and this was a quick turnaround. Many (including myself) wrote off the 43 year old former champion.

However, Werdum showed everyone up that night. After a quick takedown, Werdum was able to lockup an armbar for the win halfway through the round. From there, he immediately raised his value on the free agent market.

PFL and Bellator were both very interested in bringing in Werdum. Werdum had the Fedor rematch waiting in Bellator, but PFL wanted him to bring more attention to their heavyweight division. In the end, Werdum signed with the Pro Fight League and he will be highlighted this season.

Other PFL heavyweights to watch

There are three other PFL heavyweights I’m really watching for during the upcoming season. The most obvious one to me would be Ali Isaev (9-0). The heavyweight from Dagestan was the 2019 PFL heavyweight champion.

With four dominating performances, Isaev put the world on notice that he’s a threat at heavyweight. The next guy I have my eyes on is Justin Willis (8-2). “Big Pretty” hasn’t fought since March of 2019. That was the final fight he had with the UFC.

Willis took on Curtis Blaydes and came up short by decision. However, up until that point, Willis was 4-0 in the UFC and that included a win over former title challenger, Mark Hunt. Willis is definitely a sleeper in PFL’s upcoming season.

The last guy I have my eyes on is Mohammed Usman (7-1). The younger and much bigger brother of the current UFC welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman. Mohammed Usman is riding a four-fight win streak as he makes his debut in the big leagues under the PFL banner.

I cannot wait for this upcoming season of PFL. The promotion took the time off last year to really raise the bar in terms of talent on their roster. I love that another big promotion is making waves in US MMA. You can view the full heavyweight roster below.