A stacked double-header is in store today for our MMASucka staff picks.
Later tonight, August 20th will see PFL 9 2022 take place from the Copper Box Arena in London, England. This will be the Professional Fighters League’s first event in its promotional history held in the United Kingdom. Four playoff fights composing the main card are to begin at approximately 2:00pm ET (11:00am PT) live on both ESPN and ESPN+.
Live results from the entire PFL 9 2022 fight card will be available here at MMASucka.
Stay tuned this afternoon to MMASucka for the second-half of our double-header weekend for our UFC 278: Usman vs. Edwards staff picks. Also, look out for our Dana White’s Contender Series 51 picks this upcoming Tuesday the 23rd.
The Fights
The men’s featherweight (145 pounds) and women’s lightweight (155 pounds) divisions will see their semifinal matchups to determine finalists for PFL’s one million dollar tournament finale on November 25th later this year.
Among the featherweights sees 2021 finalist Chris Wade and 2021 semifinalist Brendan Loughnane set for battle in the co-main event. The winner of this pairing will move on to fight the winner of Ryoji Kudo, who looks to play spoiler in the tournament, and Bubba Jenkins, another semifinalist from the 2021 season.
Featured in the night’s main event will be the PFL’s 2019 and 2021 featherweight champion Kayla Harrison who remains undefeated thus far in her professional career. Her opponent, Czech Republic’s Martina Jindrova, has won three in-a-row since her PFL debut earlier this year and looks to make the most of her first playoff appearance. Harrison or Jindrova will move on to the finals to meet the winner of the always-dangerous Larissa Pacheco and Ukraine’s Olena Kolesnyk.
See our staff picks for the PFL 9 2022 playoffs further below.
Staff Picks
Staff picks in 2022 will follow the same set of rules from the 2021 season. Throughout the calendar year, staff picks will be composed of main card fights from both UFC and Bellator events. Main card fights and selected preliminary fights will be included for PFL MMA. Dana White’s Contender Series will be composed of the entire fight card.
The WINNER of staff picks in 2022 will have a choice between receiving a custom-made championship belt from ProAmBelts or a chain from Championship Chains. A winner is determined simply by the individual correctly picking the most victorious fighters at the year’s end. Nate Freeman secured his first victory with MMASucka in 2021 with a compiled record 243-136.
Find our PFL 9 2022 playoff staff picks below.
Staff Records after Dana White’s Contender Series 50:
1. Nate Freeman: 171-89
2. Wesley Riddle: 170-90
3. Michael DeSantis: 167-93
4. Frazer Krohn: 166-94
5. William Dong: 163-97
6. Jeremy Brand: 159-95
7. Chris Presnell: 151-103
8. Julio Monteros Jr.: 149-81
9. Andrew Benjamin: 148-111
10. Tim Wheaton: 138-82
11. Mike Lynch: 123-74
12. Brandon Joint: 111-72
13. Brian Knight: 109-50
14. Ash Camyab: 105-77
15. Coby Weinsier: 87-47
16. Chinyere Okafor: 72-38
17. Jacek Okninski: 70-58
18. Roemello Reyes: 27-16
19. Matt Bricker: 24-22
20. Joe Porter 11-5
21. Ben Jamieson: 9-10
*Note – not all staff pick for every event*
Royji Kudo (11-3-1), +260
vs.
Bubba Jenkins (18-5), -315
Featherweight Playoffs
– 145 lbs. –
Jeremy Brand: Jenkins via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Jenkins via Unanimous Decision
Michael DeSantis: Jenkins via Unanimous Decision
Andrew Benjamin: Jenkins via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: Jenkins via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: Jenkins via Unanimous Decision
Tim Wheaton: Jenkins via Round 3 TKO
Chris Presnell: Jenkins via Unanimous Decision
William Dong: Jenkins via Unanimous Decision
Julio Monteros Jr.: Jenkins via Unanimous Decision
Brian Knight: Jenkins via Split Decision
Roemello Reyes: Jenkins via Unanimous Decision
Ben Jamieson: Jenkins via Round 2 TKO
Staff picking Kudo: 0
Staff picking Jenkins: 13
Larissa Pacheco (17-4), -950
vs.
Olena Kolesnyk (7-4, 1 NC), +650
Women’s Lightweight Playoffs
– 155 lbs. –
Jeremy Brand: Pacheco via Round 1 TKO
Wesley Riddle: Pacheco via Round 1 TKO
Michael DeSantis: Pacheco via Round 1 TKO
Andrew Benjamin: Pacheco via Round 1 SUB
Frazer Krohn: Pacheco via Round 1 TKO
Nate Freeman: Pacheco via Round 1 TKO
Tim Wheaton: Pacheco via Unanimous Decision
Chris Presnell: Pacheco via Round 1 TKO
William Dong: Pacheco via Round 1 TKO
Julio Monteros Jr.: Pacheco via Round 2 TKO
Brian Knight: Pacheco via Round 1 TKO
Roemello Reyes: Pacheco via Round 1 TKO
Ben Jamieson: Pacheco via Unanimous Decision
Staff picking Pacheco: 13
Staff picking Kolesnyk: 0
Chris Wade (22-7), -240
vs.
Brendan Loughnane (24-4), +200
Featherweight Playoffs
Co-Main Event
– 145 lbs. –
Jeremy Brand: Wade via Round 2 TKO
Wesley Riddle: Wade via Split Decision
Michael DeSantis: Wade via Unanimous Decision
Andrew Benjamin: Loughnane via Split Decision
Frazer Krohn: Loughnane via Split Decision
Nate Freeman: Wade via Split Decision
Tim Wheaton: Loughnane via Unanimous Decision
Chris Presnell: Wade via Unanimous Decision
William Dong: Wade via Unanimous Decision
Julio Monteros Jr.: Wade via Unanimous Decision
Brian Knight: Wade via Unanimous Decision
Roemello Reyes: Loughnane via Split Decision
Ben Jamieson: Wade via Unanimous Decision
Staff picking Wade: 9
Staff picking Loughnane: 4
Kayla Harrison (14-0), -4000
vs.
Martina Jindrova (6-2), +1500
Women’s Lightweight Playoffs
Main Event
– 155 lbs. –
Jeremy Brand: Harrison via Round 1 TKO
Wesley Riddle: Harrison via Round 1 SUB
Michael DeSantis: Harrison via Round 1 SUB
Andrew Benjamin: Harrison via Round 1 SUB
Frazer Krohn: Harrison via Round 1 SUB
Nate Freeman: Harrison via Round 1 SUB
Tim Wheaton: Harrison via Round 1 TKO
Chris Presnell: Harrison via Round 1 SUB
William Dong: Harrison via Round 1 TKO
Julio Monteros Jr.: Harrison via Round 2 SUB
Brian Knight: Harrison via Round 2 TKO
Roemello Reyes: Harrison via Round 1 SUB
Ben Jamieson: Harrison via Round 1 SUB
Staff picking Harrison: 13
Staff picking Jindrova: 0
*Fight odds from DraftKings*
PFL 9 2022 FEATURED IMAGE:
PFL 9 Ceremonial Weigh Ins at the Copper Box Arena in London, England, Friday, Aug. 19, 2022. (Cooper Neill / PFL)
