MMA Fighting
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Esther Lin, MMA Fighting
As the PFL prepares to return with a new season starting on April 23, the promotion has now announced the rosters for two more divisions.
At welterweight, one of the biggest recent additions to the roster is ex-Bellator champion and former UFC title contender Rory MacDonald, who inked a deal to join the promotion in free agency. MacDonald had been ranked as one of the best 170-pounders for the last several years and now he’ll look to add a PFL championship along with the $1 million grand prize to his resume in the upcoming season.
Ray Cooper III and Rory MacDonald star in Welterweight roster; Emiliano Sordi and new challengers Chris Camozzi and Jordan Young lead Light Heavyweight roster
NEW YORK (Feb. 4, 2021) –The Professional Fighters League (PFL), the fastest growing and most innovative sports league in the world, today announced its welterweight and light heavyweight rosters for the 2021 regular season, which begins April 23 on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ in primetime. Welterweights and light heavyweights will be featured on the April 29 broadcast.
Ray Cooper III’s 2019 redemption tour brought him to the pinnacle of the PFL’s welterweight division and the Hawaiian knockout artist will return for this year’s season in hopes of repeating as champion. Standing in his way will be MMA superstar Rory MacDonald – a former Bellator champion and UFC title challenger – as well as the man who ended Cooper’s 2018 run in the championship final, Magomed Magomedkerimov.
Rory MacDonald open to UFC return after PFL run
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Photo by Andre Ringuette/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
This year the PFL hopes to complete its third season of million dollar tournaments. The upstart MMA org had to cancel 2020’s program due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The cancellation came despite the PFL announcing the signings of a number of well known fighters, including Fabricio Werdum, Anthony Pettis and Rory MacDonald.
MacDonald, a former UFC welterweight title challenger, recently did a Q&A session where he discussed his future plans. One of the questions he answered was from a fan asking if it was likely we’d ever see ‘The Red King’ back in the UFC.