Raush Manfio vs. Don ‘Magic Man’ Madge to headline Skilled Fighters League 2022 season kickoff; former UFC champ Anthony Pettis, Myles Worth in co-main occasion

The 2022 PFL common season will kick off on April 20 on the Esports Area Arlington in Texas, that includes the light-weight and light-weight heavyweight divisions.

Final 12 months’s light-weight champion, Raush Manfio (15-3), will headline the occasion towards Don “Magic Man” Madge (10-3-1), of South Africa. Within the co-main occasion, former UFC champion Anthony Pettis (24-12) will meet PFL newcomer Myles Price (11-7).

The marquee mild heavyweight matchup will characteristic 2021 champion Antonio Carlos Jr. (13-5) towards Delon Monte (8-1).

“The PFL has put collectively an action-packed card to kick off the 2022 common season,” PFL president of fighter operations Ray Sefo stated. “I am excited for struggle followers all over the world to look at the elite expertise in our light-weight and light-weight heavyweight divisions on April 20, dwell in prime-time ESPN.”

PFL follows a season and playoff format, which is exclusive in MMA. This 12 months’s weight courses embody heavyweight, mild heavyweight, welterweight, males’s light-weight, ladies’s light-weight and featherweight. The promotion has introduced six regular-season occasions, positioned in Arlington and Atlanta.

Common-season contests award factors to athletes primarily based on final result. The highest 4 earners will advance to the playoffs. Champions will earn a $1 million prize.

Pettis, 35, was one of many league’s high free-agent signings in 2021. He stumbled in his first 12 months below the PFL banner, nonetheless, dropping back-to-back contests to Clay Collard and Manfio.

Getting into the 2022 season, PFL prolonged its broadcast partnership with ESPN in the USA. Occasions air on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN+.

Different matchups on the April 20 occasion in Arlington embody:

Raush Manfio vs. Don Madge, light-weight

Anthony Pettis vs. Myles Price, light-weight

Antonio Carlos Jr. vs. Delan Monte, mild heavyweight

Clay Collard vs. Jeremy Stephens, light-weight

Emiliano Sordi vs. Joshua Silveira, mild heavyweight

Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. TBA, light-weight

Marthin Hamlet vs. Teodoras Aukstuolis, mild heavyweight

Omari Akhmedov vs. Viktor Pesta, mild heavyweight

Robert Wilkinson vs. Bruce Souto, mild heavyweight

Alexander Martinez vs. Stevie Ray, light-weight