After the 2024 PFL Championships card from Saudi Arabia was a success, with finishes in nearly every title fight and a card full of excitement, many MMA fans are curious to see how these new champions would fare against the best of another promotion.
Let’s take a look and see who the most even matchup would be for the PFL 2024 season winners, to better understand how good they are in the context of the wider sport.
Timur Khizriev
Dagestan’s Timur Khizriev was one of the less popular – but still highly skilled – top fighters going into the 2024 PFL season. The featherweight champion is still undefeated like so many of his peers, but his 22% finish rate left a lot to be desired from fans.
However, Khizriev showed a new level as the wrestler bloodied Brendan Loughnane badly by the third round with crisp boxing. He could be a real threat in the UFC featherweight division.
As a result of his well-rounded skillset and solid resume – he holds wins over top Russians like Bibert Tumenov and the 2023 PFL featherweight runner-up, Gabriel Braga – Khizriev would be appropriately matched in a fight against Britain’s Arnold Allen, who has already fought someone of his archetype in Movsar Evloev. That was a close fight, and I predict this would be as well.
Dakota Ditcheva
So much has been made over Dakota Ditcheva’s potential to dethrone UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko, and rightly so. However, there is another fighter in the division who is more comparable to Dakota herself, a blonde European lady striker with unusual height and an impeccable record: Manon Fiorot.
France’s Fiorot has not lost since her pro debut, which came against future Bellator title challenger Liah McCourt by split decision, and has run ragged through the UFC flyweight rankings. Dispatching Rose Namajunas, Erin Blanchfield, Kaitlin Cerminara, Jennifer Maia, Tabatha Ricci, and Mayra Bueno Silva have her in contention for the most ranked wins of any women’s 125-lber.
Her striking may not be as brutal as Ditcheva’s, nor is her clinch a big part of her game, but Fiorot would kickbox with Dakota for the entirety of their fight. I predict the PFL champ would win this matchup, which we may see in the near future, but it would be competitive throughout.
Dovlet Yagshimuradov
Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov went largely under the radar in the acquisition of Bellator by the PFL, as fans focused more on names like Vadim Nemkov and Corey Anderson. However, the Turkmenistani fighter has now become the first from his country to win a major promotion’s world title in MMA.
After dethroning last year’s champion, Impa Kasanganay, and the one from the year before in Rob Wilkinson, Yaghismuradov has proven his two Bellator losses were when he was a different fighter. He has come into his own as a knockout artist and has the wrestling to defend takedowns from top wrestlers.
A fight against an aging veteran like Jan Blachowicz, who is past his prime at 41-years-old, would be well-matched, although the Polish former champion would have been much better in his prime.
Shamil Musaev
Other than Dakota Ditcheva, Moscow’s undefeated knockout artist Shamil Musaev is the fighter from the PFL Championships who has generated the most interest from fans. Right after he dispatched Magomed Umalatov for the welterweight title and one million dollars, fans were already clamoring to see him in the UFC against Shavkat Rakhmonov or Jack Della Maddalena.
The Rakhmonov fight is especially compelling, as the Kazakh is known to be an elite grappler, but also willing to go to war if his opponents refuse to be taken down, showing a ferocity which belies his stoic expression.
Musaev has consistently shown elite takedown defense by beating the likes of Logan Storley and Murad Ramazanov, so I imagine a battle between these two would turn into a blood-and-guts war quickly.
Gadzhi Rabadanov
Although the teammate of Khabib Nurmagomedov is a talented fighter, he may have had the easiest route to the title of any champion this season, relative to their division. The new lightweight champion was fed a stylistic layup in Brent Primus for his championship bout and made the most of it, knocking him out in the third round for one million dollars.
His wrestling and striking are both at a good level, but are not ready to compete with truly elite lightweights. A matchup between Rabadanov and a fighter like Benoit St. Denis seems like a competitive and fair one.
Denis Goltsov
Russian heavyweight veteran Denis Goltsov finally broke through to win a PFL title after falling short in the finals last year against Renan Ferreira. After getting taken down early, Goltsov was able to lock up a triangle choke, a rarity at heavyweight, and submit the prospect challenging him, Oleg Popov.
Neither the UFC nor the PFL heavyweight division is deep, and Goltsov has had a few embarrassing defeats, despite his 14-3 promotional record. His striking base would be well-matched against someone like Jairzinho Rozenstruik. Rozenstruik may have more knockout power, but ‘The Last Bogatyr’ has the wrestling to make things complicated for the former kickboxer.