u/mcandela1

Although we have to unfortunately wait for the champion, Costello Van Steenis, to return from injury, we are still getting an exciting interim PFL Middleweight title fight between 2 familiar combatants.

Johnny Eblen & Impa Kasanganay first faced off on the PFL vs. Bellator: CHAMPS card in February 2024 in a 3 round bout that was must-watch for the entire 15 minutes and had momentum swinging back and forth throughout.

Eblen enters the title fight coming off of a dominant submission victory over PFL new contender Bryan Battle via rear naked choke. In that fight, 'Pressure' showed that his pace, pressure and wrestling were on a different level as he repeatedly picked up and slammed, picked up and slammed, and picked up an slammed Battle over and over again at will. Before that, Eblen battled the champ Van Steenis and likely would have found himself on the winning side of a decision if he did not fall victim to Costello's now iconic come from behind submission victory.

Impa comes into the fight riding a 2 fight win streak, both coming by impressive knockout. In Impa's last bout, he was standing across fellow middleweight contender Dalton Rosta in what was a top contender fight that (obviously) carried massive title fight implications for the division. Rosta came out like a bat out of hell, but after weathering an early storm Impa unloaded on Rosta and found his way to a spectacular KO finish.

Now, as we prepare for the the rematch between these 2 top PFL Middleweights for the interim title, lets take a brief look back at their first thriller in Saudi Arabia.

When the fight started, Eblen was a heavy favorite at near -500 as Impa was making his return to the weight. As Eblen initiated a takedown and knees in a standing clinch, Impa was able to disengage and get back to his feet relatively quickly, showing a sign of things to come. Impa kept the fight standing and landed some nice counter right hands and hooks. The round ends relatively square, but with Impa appearing on the front foot.

Early in the second round, after a quick flurry of strikes from both fighters, Impa appears to land an uppercut that gets Johnny's attention before unloading a right hook that drops Eblen on his back as he swarms. After eating some more shots, Eblen reverts back to his wrestling as a defense mechanism but Impa separates and begins unloading more bigtime shots. Eblen wrestled his way back to top position to finish the round, but R2 appeared a pretty clear Impa round.

The third and final round started a bit slow as both fighters were feeling each other out, but Eblen seemed to be finding his striking distance more comfortably landing more jabs and overhand rights. Despite taking some counter shots, Eblen was walking Impa down throughout the entire round with his patented pressure that wears his opponents down. That seemed to be the case as Eblen pressure struck and dominantly wrestled his way through to the final bell.

The fight ended in Eblen's favor via a split decision that both fighters should be proud of. Now, the rematch figures to be just as exciting and have massive implications as the winner will get the chance at undisputed gold versus Costello Van Steenis in arguably the PFL's best division.

Does Johnny get his way to a rematch vs Costello, or does Impa continue work his way up the division and earn his own title shot at 185? Time will soon tell.

AJ McKee made a statement with a unanimous decision victory over the unbeaten rising contender Salamat Isbulaev. In a classic Mercenary performance with some dominant moments, McKee had some opportunities to potentially finish the fight, but found his way on the winning side of a decision.

My question is, what is next for AJ? Coming off beating the #4 contender in the division, his options are somewhat limited. It appears clear that a title fight is next on the cards for the Mercenary, but against who?

The #1 contender Timur Khizriev is coming back from a long-term life-threatening injury (though he is expected to return soon) and it is unlikely he gets a shot at gold right away, the #3 contender Jesus Pinedo is coming off back to back losses, and the #5 contender Gabriel Braga is Pinedo's most recent victory which was a year ago.

McKee has to be next for the vacant PFL Featherweight title, but against who? The odds say it will probably be Timur, but if I am being honest, it seems somewhat rushed to push him straight to a title after such a long layoff. It seems potentially more and more like someone outside the top 5 could be next in line, unless McKee is willing to wait a bit for the division to clear itself up.

The Mercenary is an MMA household name and has more than earned his chance at a title shot. With only 2 losses in 4+ years, and them coming in a decision to Patricio Pitbull & a split decision loss up a weight to Paul Hughes in a #1 contender fight at LW.

I am excited to see what is next to the PFL Featherweight division & AJ McKee, but I hope the PFL does not put him on ice.

PFL San Diego has come and gone and the main card more than delivered with every fight but 2 ending in a finish. The crowd was jacked up with excitement an it was felt over the TV.

Although there were plenty of high profile fights with bigtime implications for the rankings, I think there was a clear winner of the night, Liz Carmouche. The co-main event came into the night riding a 3 fight win streak, but had not been in the SmartCage for nearly a year.

She looked extremely fresh & physical in the bout an ended up finding a finish against her opponent, Viviane Araujo, by Guillotine Choke in R2. An impressive victory with a loud finish.

But I think enough is enough, we NEED to see Liz Carmouche vs Dakota Ditcheva for the PFL Flyweight title. If Dakota wins her upcoming bout against Denise Kielholtz, Ditcheva vs Carmouche must be next, with gold on the line.

Let do this PFL.

The latest gem from Team Nurmagomedov has arrived and I think he is poised to make a legitimate run in the PFL Lightweight division.

Amru Magomedov is another Khabib protege who has all the ability in the world. He is coming off of his PFL debut, a convincing first round ground and pound finish over Kolton Englund, and is now scheduled to be on the much anticipated PFL New York card headlined by his teammate Usman Nurmagomedov.

Amru is a young prospect who recently turned 27, has a 10-0 record and long for the lightweight division at nearly 6 feet with a 71 inch reach. He uses his skills in a variety of ways as displayed in his previous victory.

Against the tough Englund who was previously riding a 6 fight win streak, Amru was entering the fight having finish 7 of his 9 wins. He started the fight quickly with rapid body kicks that immediately put Englund on the backfoot.

He then threw a couple huge shots with bad intentions, though it isn't clear if either landed clean, before he initiate a takedown an took the fight to the mat with a beautiful trip.

The fight would not last much longer though as the Dagestani fighter unloaded constant massive ground and pound shots with both hands to little resistance before the ref stepped in and stopped it. Amru was now 10 with a first round stoppage in just over 30 seconds and a clear message to the division of what he was capable of.

In his post fight interview, he was very clear that was in pursuit of a 155 title shot in as little as 2 fights. Co-sign by Khabib as a "future star", Amru has all the makings a of legitimate contender at 155.

His next fight against Angel Alvarez at PFL New York could be a major coming out party to those who are unaware. And I cannot wait to see him in some big big fights down the road.

Jay Jay Wilson is back in the smartcage on the PFL Charlotte card coming off his R1 finish in enemy territory in PFL Belfast.

Wilson, who has only lost to top contenders Gadzhi Rabadanov & Archie Colgan, looks to bring his exciting style in a fun matchup against French veteran Amin Ayoub.

Definitely a fun fight and one to keep an eye on.

I love the featherweight division. I think it is the perfect mix of size, speed and power, providing plenty of exciting knockouts, grappling, submissions & much more. The PFL 145 division is deep with a mix of names like veteran names like AJ Mckee, Jesus Pinedo & Gabriel Braga but also has fun prospects like Alexei Pergande & ibragim ibragimov. That being said, when I think of the featherweight division, TImur Khizriev is the first name that comes to mind.

The 30 year old Dagestani born in Makhachkala, Russa is the #1 contender in the division but has been out of a action since November 2024 due to sustaining serious injury after being shot 5 times last year. With PFL CEO John Martin announcing that Khizriev will have a fight announced soon, I couldn't be more excited to see this dangerous contender back in the smart cage.

The speedy Timur utilizes a beautiful jab and quick front kick that tends to catch his opponents by surprise. He also has impressive counters and he is comfortable switching stances at will.

The division is moving though as AJ McKee, the #2 contender fights Salamat Isbulaev, the #4 contender in July 2026 in a non-title fight. The PFL is looking to establish champions for their divisions. Timur is seated at the top right now with likely a fight coming towards the end of the year, I would not be surprised if he is matched up with the winner of that bout for the vacant title.

Khizriev is coming off back to back victories over #5 ranked Gabriel Braga & former PFL champion Brendan Loughnane. Seeing as he's still ranked the top contender, I think the PFL sees Timur as the future of the division and potentially its face. Here is to hoping that he can move past this major injury and continue to putting on exciting fights in a division that is open for the taking.

Alexei Pergande is a PFL Featherweight that I am very high on. Still only 25 years old, 8-0 training out of Kill Cliff FC, having an junior Olympic kickboxing background but also a deadly submission game, & coming off a major win over experienced UFC veteran Julio Arce, I think 2026/2027 is the year he really takes a leap into the upper echelon on PFL names.

I absolutely love the featherweight division and see plenty of fun matchups for Pergande there in the near future. Personally, I would love to see him vs Adam Borics in what would promise to be an exciting fight.

Pergande is tall for the division standing at around 6 feet tall and utilizes his size advantage, but is also capable of landing explosive shots at a moment's notice. Just look at Arce's face in R1 & R2 of his last fight after he landed the knee that broke Arce's nose.

Coming from the PFL Challenger series, I can appreciate how the PFL is has handled his career thus far with patience. But now in the second half of 2026 and beyond, I would like to see Pergande tested in some big fights with top-of-the division contention implications.