EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsThe MMA landscape is ever-evolving, and the start of 2026 is bringing transformations that could prove dramatic. The industry leader is the UFC, which in three months will be cast under its shiniest spotlight at the White House, presenting a fight card headlined by the biggest championship bout currently on its books. Yet that landmark June 14 event could be overshadowed by the MMA entrance of Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions a month earlier. Several one-time massive UFC stars are lined up for the May 16 spectacle, which seems sure to find a sizable audience on streaming behemoth Netflix.And then there's the PFL. Since its launch nearly a decade ago, the PFL has traveled various paths in an effort to distinguish itself from other MMA organizations. For several years, the promotion mimicked other major professional sports organizations with a season-and-playoffs format. Last year, the PFL experimented with a season-long, single-elimination tournament, featuring an expanded field of fighters acquired in the company's merger with Bellator MMA. The PFL has reinvented itself yet again this year, now operating under traditional MMA matchmaking.Beginning Friday and continuing throughout the next five weeks, the PFL is taking its show on the road, with four fight cards in major cities across the United States and Europe. There are intriguing fights sprinkled across the events. Here are a few to watch.PFL Madrid: If the belt fits ...Friday at 4 p.m. ET, prelims at 1 p.m. on ESPN+The A-side: Costello van Steenis vs. Fabian EdwardsThis is the only PFL championship bout scheduled during this five-week stretch. Fittingly, it will be a test of whether either fighter has championship mettle.The answer might seem obvious when it comes to van Steenis, who already owns the middleweight title. But consider the fight in which he won the belt last July. He trailed Johnny Eblen on the scorecards as the final-round clock ticked down before choking the champ unconscious with 9 seconds remaining. A win is a win, but losing the first 24 minutes, 51 seconds of a 25-minute fight puts the new king on a wobbly throne.But is Edwards finally ready to get over the hump? He challenged Eblen twice for the Bellator title, losing both times. He also lost a 2020 fight to van Steenis, although that was by split decision and Edwards has been more active in high-level fights than "The Spaniard" since then. Also on the positive side, Edwards is coming off a 3-0 year during which he won the 2025 PFL tournament.Deeper cut: AJ McKee vs Adam BoricsHere's one right out of the Bellator what-could-have-been archives: a former featherweight champion from the defunct promotion against a onetime title challenger. To label McKee "a former champion" is underselling him a bit. He was a homegrown talent (his first 23 fights were inside the Bellator cage) who generated much hype on the way to winning the belt from Patricio Pitbull in 2021. After the Brazilian won it back in a rematch with McKee the following year, Pitbull's first challenger was Borics. So McKee and Borics hovered around each other at the top of Bellator's 145-pound division but have never met in a cage -- until now.PFL Pittsburgh: Revival or survivalMarch 28 at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2, prelims at 7 p.m. on ESPN+The A-side: Johnny Eblen vs. Bryan BattleEblen has not fought since his snatching-defeat-from-the-jaws-of-victory loss to van Steenis last summer. Such a sudden and shocking collapse can be difficult to get over, but the former middleweight champion had better get back up and get over it quickly. He has a high-level challenge ahead.Battle will be making his PFL debut fresh out of the UFC, where he lost once in nine appearances. He's sure to be in a foul mood and ready to hit someone after a disappointing departure from the Octagon. Despite his robust record, the UFC released Battle last summer after he missed weight three times in six appearances from 2023 to '25, The final straw for Battle was at UFC 319, when his scheduled fight against Nursulton Ruziboev was canceled after Battle came in 4 pounds over the middleweight limit.One imagines Eblen's coaches at American Top Team will ignore all that noisy turmoil and focus their film study on Battle's only UFC loss, in which ATT's Rinat Fakhretdinov scored seven takedowns and controlled Battle for over 14 minutes of their 15-minute fight in 2022.Deeper cut: Impa Kasanganay vs. Dalton RostaIf you watched the PFL's annual tournaments through the years, you saw plenty of these two guys. Kasanganay won the 2023 season and was a 2024 finalist, both at light heavyweight. Rosta was a finalist last year at middleweight, dropping the final to Fabian Edwards. This bout is at 185 pounds, which is not an unfamiliar weight for Kasanganay, who has bounced back and forth between divisions to find the best fights. He's found one.PFL Chicago: Mystery to solveApril 11 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2, prelims at 6 p.m. on ESPN+The A-side: Sergio Pettis vs. Mitch McKeeThis matchup looks to be a showcase for Pettis. The former Bellator bantamweight champion and UFC competitor is from Milwaukee -- an hour and a half away -- and has proven in past Chicago appearances that his fans travel. That's because they have come to expect big things from Pettis, whose career is packed with notable conquests, from former UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno and flyweight title challenger Joseph Benavidez to Bellator titlists Patricio Pitbull and Kyoji Horiguchi.Now Pettis faces a former collegiate wrestler who is little known to all but the hardcore fans. For McKee, this will be the biggest fight of his career, a massive test for his 10-0 record. Will he be in over his head, or is he ready to seize the opportunity?Deeper cut: Raufeon Stots vs. Renat KhavalovStots is coming off a defeat last June to Pettis, his former training partner, that ended a run of 13 wins in 14 fights. Next up is a far-less-familiar face -- to Stots. MMA fans might remember Khavalov from the PFL's first fight card of the year, where he improved to 11-0. And if not Khavalov himself, fans at least will recognize the Dagestani's cornerman, Khabib Nurmagomedov.PFL Belfast: Hometown heroApril 16 7 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN2, prelims at 3 p.m. on ESPN+The A-side: Paul Hughes vs. Jay Jay WilsonHome cooking will be a welcomed treat for Hughes, as the lightweight from Belfast, Northern Ireland, has lost two of his past three bouts -- though the defeats came in highly competitive title fights against undefeated champion Usman Nurmagomedov. This will be Hughes' fifth pro fight in his home city. He won the previous four by first-round finish.His opponent is a fighter once grouped in with Nurmagomedov in ESPN's 2021 ranking of MMA fighters under age 25. Wilson was 8-0 at the time, but since then, he's not seen as much success as Nurmagomedov or another 155-pounder from that ranking, UFC champion Ilia Topuria. Can the fighter from New Zealand spoil the night for Hughes in his Northern Ireland backyard?Deeper cut: Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov vs. Tyson PedroThe last time fans saw Yagshimuradov, he was falling short in his bid to become the PFL's inaugural light heavyweight champion, losing a decision to Corey Anderson in October. He earned that shot by winning the 2024 PFL tournament, beating the two previous season champions, Kasanganay (2023) and Rob Wilkinson (2022), along the way. Yagshimuradov's next challenge is Pedro, who is making his PFL debut after a decade in the UFC and a 1-0 detour into boxing.
