Professional Fighter League 2019 season
Well its New Years Eve and Xtreme Lyfe is at Madison Square Gardens Hulu Theater for the PFL World Championships. This is an exciting night and the air in is full of that electric anticipation that happens with a major event and the fact that it is New Years Eve is adding to the insanity. There is a phish show going on upstairs at the garden and I can’t help thinking about the very obvious difference in the people attending both events. Nothing can go wrong here I said to myself in a joking tone. Back to PFL, six division titles will be won tonight and each winner will be getting a check for one million dollars.
The Professional Fighters League season
The PFL is only a couple years old and was once called the World Series of Fighting. PFL is a tournament style competitive season where fighter may face the same fighter more than once. Fighters make their way to the championships by accumulating points throughout the regular season. The PFL 2019 regular season consisted of six weight classes and six events spanning from May to August. The eight fighters with the most points in each weight class advance to the playoff rounds.
The point system consists of outcome-based scoring and bonuses for an early win. Under the outcome-based scoring system, the winner of a fight receives three points and the loser receives zero points. If the fight ends in a draw, both fighters will receive one point. The bonus for winning a fight in the first, second, or third round is three points, two points, and one point, respectively. For example, if a fighter wins a fight in the first round, the fighter will receive six total points. A win in any round automatically = 3 points. This format makes for some very exciting events.
Main Event
Women's lightweight championship: Kayla Harrison vs Larissa Pacheco
There is no doubt who the star of the evening was at the Hulu Center on New Years Eve. Kayla Harrison worked her way to a unanimous decision victory over Larissa Pacheco. The five round fight was dominated by Harrisons Judo throws and intense grounded and pounded action. Harrison avoided the striking power of Pacheco by pushing her into the clinch up against the cage not allow much room for a striking game. she continued this plan of attack throughout the fight which proved to be a great strategy. She did find herself in trouble in the third round when a failed Harrison takedown gave Pacheco a chance at a submission on the ground. Pacheco also landed a big knee to Harrison’s head, but the American held strong and pushed Pacheco to the cage in the clinch before once again scoring a takedown. Pacheco, the only fighter to take Harrison the distance in a previous fight earlier in the season had a few moments in the fight where she seemed to obtain the upper hand however, Harrison made her pay a heavy price each time. the overwhelming skill set of Harrison was too much for Pacheco and Harrison was crowned the 2019 PFL Women's lightweight champion and took home a check for $1,000,000, not a bad payday.
Remember the Name Kayla Harrison
A rising star in MMA is no stranger to combat spots. Kayla Harrison has been training in Judo since the age of six years old and is a former training partner of fellow judoka Ronda Rousey. Oh did I mention that she is also a two time Olympic gold medalist. Harrison made her MMA debut at PFL 2 on June 21, 2018 against Brittney Elkin in the Women's Lightweight division.[13] She won via submission due to an arm bar in the first round. She c currently holds a record of seven wins, 3 by submission, 2 by knockout and 2 by decision. both decision victories were fights against Larissa Pacheco who she faced for the championship. At 29 years old, Harrison is an impressive MMA athlete and is undoubtedly not done showing us what she is capable of in the world of combat sports.
Welterweight championship: Ray Cooper III vs David Michaud
Another highly anticipated fight was Ray Cooper III vs David Michaud for the PFL Welterweight championship. Ray Cooper III Hawaiian mixed martial artist defeated David Michaud at 2:56 of the second round by TKO. The match started fast with Michaud running across the cage with a flying knee but Cooper was able to slow things down by getting Michaud in the clinch against the cage. Cooper secured the takedown and was able to land several body shots on the ground. Cooper ended the round in the dominant position which is exactly how you win a round incase its goes to decision. As the second round bell rang the two fighters centered the cage trading blows but Cooper soon engage Michaud in a grappling match however what won the fight was a heavy left hook followed by several punches until the referee stopped the fight giving Cooper the welterweight title. What a great even, I am excited to see what is in store for 2020-2021.