| PFL 2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for PFL 2 | ||||
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | Professional Fighters League | |||
| Date | April 29, 2021 | |||
| Venue | Ocean Casino Resort | |||
| City | Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States | |||
| Estimated viewers | 136,000 [1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
The PFL 2 mixed martial arts event for the 2021 season of the Professional Fighters League was held on April 29, 2021. This was the second regular season event of the tournament and included fights in the Welterweight and Light heavyweight divisions. [2]
The event was to be headlined by a welterweight clash between the former UFC title contender and Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald and the former UFC veteran David Michaud. [3] On April 8, Michaud announced that he had to pull out of the bout due to medicals discovering a congenital heart condition, congenital bicuspid aortic valve with dilated aortic root, which put him at risk of aortic dissection. His future in MMA is also uncertain. [4] He was replaced for the season by Curtis Millender. [5]
In the co-main event, the 2019 PFL Welterweight tournament winner Ray Cooper III is scheduled to fight Jason Monet. [6]
The remaining two fights of the main card are scheduled in the light heavyweight division: Jordan Johnson will fight Tom Lawlor, and 2019 PFL Light Heavyweight tournament winner Emiliano Sordi will fight former long time UFC fighter Chris Camozzi. [7]
Jordan Johnson was set to fight Tom Lawlor at this event. However, in March, it was announced that Johnson pulled out and was replaced by Antônio Carlos Júnior. [8] Later, PFL announced that Antônio Carlos Júnior will replace Johnson for the whole season. [9]
On March 25, it was announced that Magomed Magomedkerimov and Alexey Kunchenko pulled out of their bouts due to undisclosed reasons. Due to this, Gleison Tibau and João Zeferino were scheduled to face each other. [10]
At weigh-ins, Vinny Magalhães missed weight and had to be taken to the hospital due to complications of his weight cut, and he was replaced by Askar Mozharov. [11] The next day it was announced that Mozharov pulled out for medical reasons so Jordan Young will receive a walkover win and 3 points. [12]
| Main Card (ESPN 2) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Welterweight | Rory MacDonald | def. | Curtis Millender | Submission (rear naked choke) | 1 | 3:38 | |
| Welterweight | Ray Cooper III | def. | Jason Ponet | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | 1 | 1:23 | |
| Welterweight | João Zeferino | def. | Gleison Tibau | Decision (unanimous) (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Emiliano Sordi | def. | Chris Camozzi | Decision (unanimous) (29-28, 29-28, 28-27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPN+) | |||||||
| Light Heavyweight | Antônio Carlos Júnior | def. | Tom Lawlor | Submission (guillotine choke) | 1 | 4:43 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Cezar Ferreira | def. | Nick Roehrick | KO (punches) | 1 | 0:37 | |
| Welterweight | Sadibou Sy | vs. | Nikolay Aleksakhin | No Contest (accidental eye poke) | 2 | 1:56 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Marthin Hamlet | def. | Dan Spohn | Technical Submission (arm-triangle choke) | 2 | 0:52 | |
The PFL points system is based on results of the match. The winner of a fight receives 3 points. If the fight ends in a draw, both fighters will receive 1 point. The bonus for winning a fight in the first, second, or third round is 3 points, 2 points, and 1 point respectively. The bonus for winning in the third round requires a fight be stopped before 4:59 of the third round. No bonus point will be awarded if a fighter wins via decision. For example, if a fighter wins a fight in the first round, then the fighter will receive 6 total points. A decision win will result in three total points. If a fighter misses weight, the opponent (should they comply with weight limits) will receive 3 points due to a walkover victory, regardless of winning or losing the bout, with the fighter who missed weight being deducted 1 standings point; if the non-offending fighter subsequently wins with a stoppage, all bonus points will be awarded. A fighter who was unable to compete for any reason, will receive a 1-point penalty (-1 point in the standings). The fighters who made weight will not receive a walkover, but will earn points and contracted purse amounts based on their performance in the altered matchup. [13]
| Fighter | Wins | Draws | Losses | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total Points [14] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antônio Carlos Júnior | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Cezar Ferreira | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Marthin Hamlet | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Emiliano Sordi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Jordan Young | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Chris Camozzi | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Lawlor | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nick Roehrick | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dan Spohn | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vinny Magalhães | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| Fighter | Wins | Draws | Losses | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total Points [15] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ray Cooper III | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Rory MacDonald | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| João Zeferino | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Nikolay Aleksakhin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Sadibou Sy | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Curtis Millender | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ason Ponet | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gleison Tibau | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alexey Kunchenko | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| Magomed Magomedkerimov | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
Janigleison Herculano Alves, better known as Gleison Tibau is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently competing in the Welterweight division. A professional since 1999, he has competed for the UFC, Professional Fighters League (PFL), DEEP, and Golden Boy Promotions.
Vinicius "Vinny" de Magalhães is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Light heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2006, he was a finalist in The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir and has fought five times within two stints with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the former Titan FC Light heavyweight Champion, M-1 Global Light heavyweight Champion and is also a former jiu-jitsu no-gi world champion and ADCC champion. Magalhães was inducted into the ADCC Hall of Fame in 2024.
Thomas Joseph Lawlor is an American professional wrestler, retired mixed martial artist and podcast host. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was the inaugural and longest reigning NJPW Strong Openweight Champion, and Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he is a former one-time MLW World Tag Team Champion, one-time MLW World Heavyweight Champion and the winner of the first-ever Battle Riot in 2018 and the 2020 Opera Cup tournament.
Rory MacDonald is a Canadian former mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the welterweight division of the Professional Fighters League (PFL). Prior to signing with the PFL, MacDonald competed for Bellator MMA, where he is a former Bellator Welterweight World Champion. Having been a professional competitor since 2005, MacDonald was a top contender in the UFC with an overall UFC record of 9–4, and challenged for the UFC Welterweight Championship at UFC 189 in against then-champion Robbie Lawler. He is also a former King of the Cage Lightweight Champion.
Christopher Allen Camozzi is an American professional Glory kickboxer and mixed martial artist who competes in the Light heavyweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, Camozzi has formerly competed in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, MFC, Shark Fights, HDNet Fights, and was also a contestant on Spike TV's 11th season of The Ultimate Fighter in 2010.
Daniel Spohn is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Light Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2006, he has competed for the UFC, Bellator, and was a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Edgar vs. Team Penn.
Cezar Jesus Ferreira, better known in his home country Brazil as Cezar Mutante, is a mixed martial artist currently competing in the light heavyweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2007, he has competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Professional Fighters League. He was also the inaugural winner of Globo's The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil
Antônio Carlos Coelho de Figueiredo Barbosa Júnior, also known as Antônio Carlos Jr. and professionally by his ring name Cara de Sapato, is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Light Heavyweight division and is currently signed to the Professional Fighters League (PFL), where he became champion in 2021. Carlos Júnior is most known for his time spent fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he competed in the Light Heavyweight division in addition to Middleweight. A multiple time champion in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Carlos Júnior was World Cup Champion in 2006 and 2x World Champion in 2010. He is the winner of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 Heavyweight tournament and the 2021 PFL Light Heavyweight Champion. In 2023, he was cast as contestant in the reality show Big Brother Brasil 23.
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Alexey Andreevich Kunchenko is a Russian former mixed martial artist (MMA) who competed in the welterweight division. He is a former M-1 Global welterweight champion and competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Professional Fighters League (PFL).
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