PFL Featherweight World Tournament Semifinal Preview

The first PFL World Tournament semifinal event goes down tonight in Nashville and we will see a trilogy matchup in the featured featherweight contest. 2023 featherweight champion Jesus Pinedo (24-6-1) will look to once again beat the man he defeated to win the championship in Gabriel Braga (16-2).

As mentioned, Pinedo won the championship in 2023 but injuries kept him out of the season last year. Pinedo’s first fight back after injuries was against Adam Borics in the first round of the world tournament and he picked up right where he left off with a first round knockout.

Gabriel Braga won the first fight against Jesus Pinedo by split decision. He then made the finals and lost by third round TKO. Since that loss to Pinedo, Braga has fought five times and he’s gone 4-1. In the opening round of the world tournament, he submitted Frederik Dupras in the first round.

PFL World Tournament

In the other semifinal matchup, Movlid Khaybulaev (22-0-1) will look to remain undefeated as he takes on Tae Kyun Kim (11-1). Now, Khaybulaev is pretty fortunate to make it to the semifinals of the PFL World Tournament. In his first bout of the tournament, Khaybulaev won a controversial split decision against Jeremy Kennedy in a bout where many thought he lost. Nevertheless, he got the win and now he has a chance to go for the finals.

To make it to the finals, he’ll have to defeat Tae Kyun Kim. Unlike Khaybulaev, Kim left no doubts in his first fight where he scored a first round finish over Nathan Kelly. His lone career loss came by split decision and tonight, he’ll look to take the 0 of Khaybulaev and punch his ticket to the PFL World Tournament finals.