PFL is back with their regular season this weekend with the featherweights and welterweights which should make for a very entertaining card. Looking back at the first episode with these two weight classes, I got a few picks wrong. Hopefully I can turn that around now that we have seen these guys fight recently for the PFL. PFL will be broadcast on ESPN+ on Friday 28th June at 06:00 PM ET.

BRENDAN LOUGHNANE (28-5) vs. JUSTIN GONZALES (14-4) – Featherweight

Loughnane is a former champion of this tournament and could have won it all last year as he lost to Jesus Pinedo who went on to win the tournament himself. He had a couple poor performances last year against Pinedo and even made Marlon Moraes look not washed for over a round which is concerning. He made a statement in his last fight getting a fast KO win over Bellator veteran Pedro Carvalho. He might be able to win the tournament again as PFL hasn't done a good job recruiting more featherweights and you could argue this year's featherweight tournament is weaker than last years. Gonzales does have a good style to beat Loughnane as Loughnane is a striker and Gonzales is a wrestler who shoots for takedowns very often. But Loughnane does look improved and Gonzales was knocked out only two months ago. PFL thinks Loughnane can be a star and I think they are trying to set him up for another KO. I think he does but his money line is currently -700 so too wide to really do anything with.

LOGAN STORLEY (15-3) vs. LUCA POCLIT (10-1) – Welterweight

This is a short notice fight as both of these fighters were scheduled to fight different opponents. Storley is a wrestler and Poclit is a judoka. This is a big step down in competition for Storley as he competed at the top of Bellator, even winning a vacant title against MVP. Storley should win this for sure but I think the odds are still somewhat close as Storely was knocked out cold only two months ago. We have seen just last week that fighters returning after taking a lot of damage haven't looked great. I still like Storley to win and I'm sure he will be looking for a finish so he can make it to the playoffs.

MAGOMED UMALATOV (15-0) vs. BRENNAN WARD (17-8) – Welterweight

I know this is not a good breakdown but there is just no way Umalatov loses to Brennan Ward. I actually believe that Umalatov is a really good striker but recently he has been adding a lot of wrestling to his game. Although it was super boring, he out wrestled Andrey Koreshkov for three rounds and didn't have much trouble doing it. If he needs to, he also has really good striking which he showcased in 2022 and 2023. Ward is a brawler but we have seen him out wrestled and out grappled in his last two fights. I don't think he is the better striker in this fight either. Umalatov is -850 money line and I can understand why.

GABRIEL ALVES BRAGA (13-1) vs. BUBBA JENKINS (21-8) – Featherweight

This fight is much more difficult to predict than the last fights I wrote about. I think Jenkins is a bad match up for Braga as he has a dominant wrestle style and will have a size advantage like he does in most of his fights. But I also said that about Braga's last fight against Gonzales and was proven wrong very quickly. Braga is a pure muay thai striker and despite being in the PFL for two seasons now we are still yet to see how good his take down defense actually is. Gonzales did shoot multiple take downs on him in their fight and overall his defense held up as he was never put on his back but he was controlled against the cage for a few minutes. Gonzales isn't as strong as Jenkins though. We have seen Jenkins look great in fights somewhat recently as Chris Wade has no answer for his wrestling in their fight last year. Jenkins is getting older though and his loss to Kai Kamaka is not a good look. From what I have seen I can't fully trust the take down defense of Braga but I think he should be able to find a KO win over Jenkins who is well past his prime at this point. The fight is quite evenly matched as Braga is -125 money line.

MURAD RAMAZANOV (12-0) vs. SHAMIL MUSAEV (17-0-1) – Welterweight

Shamil Musaev looked like a completely different fighter in his last fight. Before his PFL debut he looked very uncontrolled and was swinging wildly and was super over aggressive. For that reason I picked Storley to control him with his wrestling. Shamil showed fantastic take down defense against Storley as Storley attempted multiple takedowns and wasn't close to getting any of them. Shamil never got the opportunity to get aggressive until the end of round 1 and he made it count, hurting Storley badly. He put Storley out bad in round 2 and the finishing sequence was started with an uppercut which was thrown to counter Storley's take down attempt. Ramazanov only really has wrestling. He's a pretty easy to hit target on the feet but his wrestling is so dominant nobody has been able to take advantage of that yet. If I hadn't seen Musaev vs. Storley I would have likely picked Ramazanov but now that Musaev is much more calculated and patient I actually like his chances in this fight. I also like his chances of finding that KO as he is super accurate on the feet and Ramazanov does not have great striking defense. I do worry for Musaev as he does mostly throw kicks on the feet and Ramazanov is very, very good at catching kicks and turning them into a take down. The books have not picked a side with this one as both fighters are -110, but I will pick Musaev to win by KO.

TIMUR KHIZRIEV (15-0) vs. ENRIQUE BARZOLA (20-8-2) – Featherweight

Timur Khizriev is my current pick to win the whole tournament as I think his wrestling style matches up well with a lot of the tougher fights in the season. He is a dominant wrestler who was able to out wrestle Brett Johns in his last fight. Barzola is a former bantamweight who has moved up to compete in the tournament. I think Khizriev is going to be able to use his size advantage here and use his wrestling to win another decision. He is -400.

GOITI YAMAUCHI (29-6) vs. ANDREY KORESHKOV (27-5) – Welterweight

I love Goiti and he was my favourite Bellator fighter for a long time. He is a very entertaining fighter to watch as he is an aggressive striker bit his danger comes in his grappling which is very high level. He is fighting Koreshkov who is a former Bellator champion and is a very dynamic striker. He was totally shut down in his last fight by Magomed Umalatov who used his wrestling very often and very effectively. Goiti is not as big as Umalatov and is also not as good as a wrestler so I think he may have a harder time getting him down. On the feet I do rate Koreshkov a little higher and I think he will have more opportunity to showcase his striking. It breaks my heart but I am going to pick Koreshkov to defeat Yamauchi. The books must rate Yamauchi's groppling highly as he is the favourite. I am picking Koreshkov as a a slight -105 underdog.

FULL CARD QUICK PICKS:

Brendan Loughnane by KO/TKO – (-700) – High confidence

Logan Storley by KO/TKO – (-240) – Medium confidence

Magomed Umalatov by KO/TKO – (-850) – High confidence

Gabriel Alves Braga by KO/TKO – (-125) – Low confidence

Lorenz Larkin by KO/TKO – (-265) – Medium Confidence

Shamil Musaev by KO/TKO – (-110) – Low confidence

Timur Khizriev by Decision – (-395) – High confidence

Andrey Koreshkov by Decision – (-105) – Low confidence

Kai Kamaka III by KO/TKO – (-455) – Medium/High confidence

Don Madge by KO/TKO – (-240) – Low confidence

Lorenz Larkin by KO/TKO – (-395) – Medium confidence

Adam Borics by Decision – (-170) – Low confidence

Jordan Oliver by Decision – (-300) – Very low confidence

Tyler Diamond by Decision – (-200) – Low confidence