16 Top Fighters Set for High-Stakes, Single-Elimination Tournament Beginning on April 3

2025 PFL World Tournament Available Live Across ESPN Platforms in the U.S. and
DAZN Internationally

 

NEW YORK (February 21, 2025) – The Professional Fighters League (PFL) has officially revealed the 16 world-class fighters set to compete in the Bantamweight and Women’s Flyweight divisions of the 2025 PFL World Tournament. 

The 2025 PFL World Tournament kicks off from the backlot of Universal Studios Florida in Orlando on April 3, April 11, April 18, and May 1, with fighters needing to win three consecutive bouts to win the Championship. 

The 2025 PFL World Tournament will air live on ESPN platforms in the U.S. Internationally, fans can catch the action live on DAZN. In total, the tournament will be streamed in 190 countries through 20 premium media partners.

One shot at greatness. The annual single-elimination tournament will feature brackets at Heavyweight, Light Heavyweight, Middleweight, Welterweight, Lightweight, Featherweight, Bantamweight, and Women’s Flyweight. The 2025 PFL World Tournament spans an action packed five months. 64 of the best fighters from around the world will compete to win MMA’s toughest test - win three straight times in five months to become 2025 PFL Tournament Champion. 

The First Round fights and the Semi-Final fights will be three, five-minute rounds while the Finals are five, five-minute rounds. All events and all fights now allow the use of elbows. The 2025 PFL World Tournament will payout over $20 million in total prize money, including a $500,000 bonus for every winner.

Additional weight classes will be revealed shortly, the completed brackets will be unveiled on March 11 through a special bracket reveal show, powered by VALR Energy.

Here is the full list of Bantamweight and Women’s Flyweight competitors. 

BANTAMWEIGHT DIVISION (135 lbs) – 2025 PFL WORLD TOURNAMENT ATHLETES 

  • Magomed Magomedov (24-4) - Russia
  • Leandro Higo (23-6) - Brazil
  • Sarvarjon Khamidov (16-0) - Tajikistan
  • Ali Taleb (12-1) - Sweden
  • Ciaran Clarke (10-0) - Ireland
  • Kasum Kasumov (16-1) - Russia
  • Jake Hadley (11-4) - England
  • Zebenzui Ruiz(12-3) - Spain
    • Alternate - Francesco Nuzzi (10-1) - Italy
    • Alternate - Matheus Mattos (14-3-1) - Brazil


WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT DIVISION (125 lbs) – 2025 PFL WORLD TOURNAMENT ATHLETES

  • Taila Santos (22-4) - Brazil
  • Liz Carmouche (22-8) - U.S.A.
  • Kana Watanabe (13-3-1) - Japan
  • Juliana Velasquez (13-3) - Brazil
  • Jena Bishop (7-2) - U.S.A.
  • Elora Dana (7-0) - Brazil
  • Ilara Joanne (12-9) - Brazil
  • Diana Avsaragova (6-1) - Russia
    • Alternate - Ekaterina Shakalova (8-2) - Ukraine
    • Alternate - Saray Orozco (8-6) - Mexico


Upcoming 2025 PFL World Tournament Schedule:
 

  • April 3, 2025, Universal Studios Florida, Stage 19 - Main Card airs live on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+ at 10 pm ET
  • April 11, 2025, Universal Studios Florida, Stage 19 - Main Card airs live on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ at 11:30 pm ET
  • April 18, 2025, Universal Studios Florida, Stage 19 - Main Card airs live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ at 7 pm ET
  • May 1, 2025, Universal Studios Florida, Stage 19 - Main Card airs live on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ at 10 pm ET



ABOUT PROFESSIONAL FIGHTERS LEAGUE
Professional Fighters League (PFL) is a global powerhouse in MMA and the fastest-growing sports league world-wide. PFL is the only MMA organization with the “win and advance” format. PFL is broadcast and streamed to 190 countries with 20 leading media partners. PFL is backed by major blue-chip investors including SURJ, Ares, Knighthead, Luxor Capital, Waverley Capital, Elysian Park Ventures, 885 Capital, and numerous NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS team owners. MMA is the growth sport business of this decade, with 650 million fans worldwide, the youngest audience demographic, and true global revenue streams.

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About ESPN
ESPN, the world’s leading multiplatform sports entertainment brand, features seven U.S. television networks, the leading sports app, direct-to-consumer ESPN+, leading social and digital platforms, ESPN.com, ESPN Audio, endeavors on every continent around the world, and more. ESPN is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc. (an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company) and 20 percent by Hearst.

About ESPN+ 
ESPN+ is the No. 1 sports streaming platform, serving fans in the U.S. with exclusive access to more than 32,000 live sports events each year, an unmatched library of on-demand replays and acclaimed original content, and premium written articles by the top reporters and analysts from ESPN.com. Fans sign up to ESPN+ for just $11.99 a month (or $119.99 per year) at ESPN.com, ESPNplus.com or in the ESPN App on mobile and connected devices. For more visit the ESPN+ Press Kit.

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