PFL 6: 2022 Regular Season

The official Tapology discussion thread for the event!

MacDonald vs. Sy
Rory MacDonald, DEC
Closer than people think

Carlos Leal, the alternate that upset Ray Cooper is not fighting, and neither is the alternate who upset Zefferino, Dilliano Taylor.

I had noticed earlier that Cory Hendricks, the alternate that defeated Emiliano Sordi was not included in the PFL 4 line up either.

I think alternates come in for the one off appearance, and then are replaced by the initial contracted combatant going forward...unless that one off appearance was enough to earn them a playoff spot.

 Aside from the dumbass "not signing alternates" horse**** and the garbage practice of putting someone coming off of a loss vs someone coming off a win (you know for a fact the only reason Julia Budd is fighting Kayla Harrison this early is because she lost) this card is sooooo good. Umalatov vs Silawi in particular has caught my attention. 

Fr though GET THE ******* ALTERNATES HERE PFL! Also I hope to god no one pulls out of these next few PFL cards. I got a close eye on the Russians so I'm not gonna get my hopes up too much with anything PFL

Harrison vs. Budd
Kayla Harrison, SUB, R1
Yknow, I was excited to see this but lost interest after budd lost to that can; clearly, she’s not in her prime anymore. Still a good test, but she’s not the same fighter she was

MacDonald vs. Sy
Sadibou Sy, DEC
Hear me out… sy is shockingly good for how ugly his record is. Rory I’m not somebody who really thinks Rory is over the hill, but he’s slowed down enough that I think sy can do if

Cooper III vs. Cooper
Ray Cooper III, TKO, R1
Surely cooper won’t miss weight this time yeah? Not gonna **** on him for losing to leal anyways; dude is solid. Shame cooper stands almost no chance of going to the finals this year

Magomedkerimov vs. Zeferino
Magomed Magomedkerimov, TKO, R2
Magomed stands a good chance at winning the belt this year considering cooper screwed himself out of contention. I mean he could win it anyways but it just got significantly easier

Al-Silawi vs. Umalatov
Jarrah Hussein Al-Silawi, TKO, R3
This fight is incredibly good. Not going to **** on jarrahs performance because tibau makes every fight excruciatingly close, and he’s young so it was a learning experience. Umalatov looks promising but not sure where his skill level is at

Pacheco vs. Fabian
Larissa Pacheco, TKO, R1
I’m genuinely convinced Pacheco is a man. Not trying to hate, but there is not a feminine tone in that voice

Tibau vs. Aleksakhin
Gleison Tibau, DEC
I can’t believe it, but I actually like tibau in this spot. ******* juicehead always has close fights🤣

Mokhnatkina vs. Montes
Marina Mokhnatkina, SUB, R1
Lol

Jindrová vs. Fayzallanova
Zamzagul Fayzallanova, DEC
Is zamzagul actually bad or did she just look **** because she faced Larissa “Low T” Pacheco? Idk

Kolesnyk vs. Melo
Olena Kolesnyk, DEC
Gotta congratulate pfl on this one. I’m genuinely having a hard time remembering a lower wmma fight; maybe moras vs melo was on the same level

I’ve enjoyed the pfl since they made all their improvements but they are absolutely violating the alternates. Such an autistic format; if your fighters can’t show up and perform like they are contractually obligated to, why let them continue to fight after having someone take their place? Makes no sense. Let the alternates get what they deserve; especially because they’ve all been huge underdogs 

Harrison vs. Budd
Kayla Harrison, SUB, R1
Kayla wins and we all know it

MacDonald vs. Sy
Rory MacDonald, SUB, R1
easy fight for rory hes better all around and will show that here

Cooper III vs. Cooper
Ray Cooper III, TKO, R2
hopefully cooper is recovered he looked terrible im expecting a bounce back Ko here

Magomedkerimov vs. Zeferino
Magomed Magomedkerimov, DEC
Magomed should go to the finals again as long as he dominates his fights and gets a finish

Tibau vs. Aleksakhin
Gleison Tibau, DEC
Tibau is old and not very good but one thing he can do is push the pace and keep going expecting a split decision

• I think Pacheco and Harrison are locks to make the playoffs. Pacheco had a 1st-round finish in the first week, so she's pretty much guaranteed a spot as long as she makes weight this time. Harrison should be heavily favored against Budd, who really looks like a deer in the headlights lately.
• Other than Budd, Kolesnyk and Jindrova are the only other two with points heading into the second "regular season" fight, and each is fighting someone who lost in the first fight. Kolesnyk's opponent has dropped 4 of her last 5, and Jindrova's opponent's 7-2 record includes 5 wins against fighters who were 0-0 and one who was 0-1.... just a wee bit padded, that 7-2 record.
• Because Budd got a "walkover" decision win (despite losing the fight) after Fabian committed the cardinal sin of missing weight, she'll probably be at a disadvantage in PFL's elaborate tie-breaking system if she loses as expected against Harrison and either Kolesnyk or Jindrova win. 
• Fabian's unlikely to make the playoffs. She's clearly being punished by having to fight Pacheco. To make the playoffs she'd have to do what Harrison couldn't do in 2 fights: Finish Pacheco.
• Bottom line: I expect the playoffs to include Harrison, Pacheco, Kolesnyk and Jindrova. 
• (Side note: Mokhnatkina is a dark horse candidate to make the playoffs. She gave Harrison a surprisingly tough fight in the first week of "regular" season and gets to fight a 3-1 opponent whose 3 wins came against opponents with a combined record of 0-1. If she wins by finish, she could grab one of the playoff spots.)

Is there any consistent uniform way PFL matches people against each other. Shouldn't people coming off wins face other people coming off wins and vice-versa. Is there seeding go into it? or is it just we want this fight/this person to win? It also seems most divisions have a guy they feed to the bigger names to make sure they get to play offs: Cooper at 170 and Price at 155 etc.

If they put people coming off wins against each other in the regular season, it would ruin the playoffs because two of the weaker fighters against each other would create a win for a "bottom-halfer".

They likely know which 4 they envision in the playoffs.  Props to them for giving people a chance for the upset and earning their place.

Yes... it is definitely unfortunate that the likes of Hendricks and Leal are kept from seeing it through, after scoring solid upsets.  Maybe PFL needs to look at the wording of their contracts with the "main" people.

Magomedkerimov vs. Zeferino
Magomed Magomedkerimov, SUB, R2
He most likely needs a round 1 finish

You gott be ****ting me, budd is out against Harrison 🤦‍♂️ 

Like r u serious the one quality opponent she fights and she pulls out smh 

They boutta grab someone off the streets 😂😂 

Kayla -10000

Called it. A bum lol

Harrison vs. Young
Kayla Harrison, DEC
Gross PFL would lose credibility if they had any.

MacDonald vs. Sy
Rory MacDonald, DEC
**** yeah this is a good fight should be main event.

Cooper III vs. Cooper
Brett Cooper, TKO, R2
Cooper will win..well one of them I always liked brett he is the low rent version of Jiri.

Magomedkerimov vs. Zeferino
Magomed Magomedkerimov, DEC
LOL PFL goldenboi

Tibau vs. Aleksakhin
Gleison Tibau, DEC
Why not he beat Khabib