PFL Championships 2021. From the perspective of a sweepstakes winner.

Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Hollywood FL

Written by Garey Symington

Making it’s return after a pandemic-induced layoff, the PFL had what many consider to be the best season yet for America’s fastest growing MMA promotion. Headlined by the unsurprising domination victory by two-time Judo gold medalist and undefeated free agent, Kayla Harrison, there truly wasn’t a dull fight to be had on this card. Prior to Harrison v Guardado, the co-main event saw sparks fly between top PFL Welterweights and longtime rivals, Hawaii’s Ray Cooper III and Dagestan’s Magomed Magomedkerimov.

As a massive MMA fan and first-time attendee to a live MMA event, I could immediately feel the electric atmosphere of this long awaited season finale. The Hard Rock amphitheatre grew fuller and louder as fans, family and friends gathered from all corners of the world to cheer on their favorite fighters and see a great show, which included a live performance by Wiz Khalifa!

The Lightweight championship saw Brazilian underdog, Raush Manfio, take his Cinderella story to the Smart Cage in opposition to the pride of Tajikistan and notorious pressure fighter, Loik Radzhabov. Though it followed a stunning upset knockout by American Heavyweight, Jordan Young, over Russian veteran, Omari Akhmedov, this was the first title bout on the card, and you could feel the energy intensify instantly. As fans poured in, a multilingual tennis match of cheers and hometown chants between the Tajikistani cohort and their Brazilian counterparts bounced between the sides of the amphitheater’s fan section. Brazilian superstar Junior Dos Santos was sitting front and center, cheering Manfio to an upset victory the entire way. Things only got crazier from there.

As current and former UFC superstars like Paige VanZant, Robbie Lawler and Gilbert Burns looked on, Antonio Carlos Jr. (Light Heavyweight) and Movlid Khaybulaev (Featherweight) both cashed their tickets and secured their belts as favorites. Brazil’s Bruno Cappelozza followed with his second win over Croatia’s Ante Delija in the Heavyweight title bout, however those in the Cappelozza camp were certainly holding their breath after round 1. Notorious for his fury of fists and first round finishes, Cappelozza seemed a bit out of sorts when Delija survived his initial barrage, taking the Brazilian to the second round and nearly securing the finish before ultimately notching his second loss to Cappelozza.

The GWOAT, boxing legend Claressa Shields, notched her first combat sports loss against underdog Abigail Montes. Shields managed to make it to the judges’ scorecards, however it was obvious that her grappling is the style holding her back from being an unstoppable mixed martial artist. Without a doubt she’ll continue to improve, developing into a major problem for other women on the PFL roster.

This brings us to the people’s main event – Ray Cooper III vs Magomed Magomedkerimov for the PFL Welterweight strap. By now the stadium is nearing capacity, all eyes fixated on the long-awaited rematch between two of the world’s top fighters at 170 lbs. Having lost their first encounter to the Dagestani’s superior grappling, despite his impressive wrestling pedigree, Ray Cooper III was out for blood this time around – and the stadium was behind him. I had round 1 at 10-9 Cooper in what was a lively back and forth featuring some heavy overhand lands from the shorter yet rangy Cooper. I’ll never know if the judges saw it the same, as Ray took matters into his own hands with a devastating knockout blow in the second round. Time stood still as the deceptively tall Magomedkerimov fell backwards to the floor, the crowd in stunned silence awaiting an official stoppage before erupting into shocked excitement as Ray iced the cake with a strong right hand to the stunned Dagestani.

With each winner taking home $1,000,000 in addition to their respective belts, this event was more than a great way to spend a Wednesday evening in Ft. Lauderdale. It was a life changing event for the victors who, with their hard-earned financial backing, can now continue to pursue their dreams of MMA stardom comfortably and sustainably. The joy on the faces of the fighters and their families goes to show to all of us in the crowd that sometimes it’s the fight in the dog, not the dog in the fight, that brings success to those who aren’t afraid to sacrifice and truly scrap to bring their dreams to fruition.