PFL 1 is upon us. A new season, and new era, of PFL action begins this week. On Thursday night, the new PFL World Tournament kicks off in central Florida. Universal Orlando is the host site for Thursday’s card.
For four of the next five weeks, the quarterfinal phase of the tournament takes place, with the only week off being the week of April 24. United States rightsholder ESPN will be busy airing and streaming the 2025 NFL Draft on April 24, 25, and 26 from Lambeau Field in Green Bay, with tournament action resuming on May 1 for the last quarterfinal show.
It all begins with PFL 1 this Thursday evening. Stage 19 of Universal Orlando, formerly part of the storied Nickelodeon Studios wing, plays host to all four of the quarterfinal events.
PFL 1 Gets World Tournament Underway Thursday
As has been the norm since 2019, live coverage of this event will be streamed from start to finish on ESPN+ inside the United States beginning at 7 pm ET/ 4 pm PT with the early card.
Late card action follows at 10 pm ET/ 7 pm PT on ESPN2. All told, PFL 1 features 10 quarterfinal and tournament alternate fights in the welterweight and featherweight ranks.
PFL 1 Main Event: Jason Jackson vs. Andrey Koreshkov
At the top of the bill in Thursday’s single-elimination tournament card is a welterweight quarterfinal matching Jason Jackson (18-5 MMA, 0-0 PFL 2025) and Andrey Koreshkov (28-5 MMA, 0-0 PFL 2025). All fights through the semifinal round of the tournament will be an advertised maximum of three rounds at five minutes per round.
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@TAKM_MMAAndrey Koreshkov
The 2025 PFL World Tournament kicks off with a bang as two former @BellatorMMA Welterweight World Champions clash in Orlando!
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[ #PFLWorldTournament | Thursday , April 3rd |
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— PFL (@PFLMMA) April 1, 2025
Going into the quarterfinal phase of the PFL World Tournament and the PFL 1 main event, Jason Jackson has posted a record of 4-1 in his last five fights. The former Bellator MMA Welterweight Champion, Jackson is reeling from a defeat to Ramazan Kuramagomedov (13-0 MMA) last June during Bellator Champions Series 3 from Dublin’s 3Arena on Showtime.
During his time in the now-defunct Bellator, Jackson scored eight victories, with most of them requiring the judges to go to the scorecards. In an episode of the new PFL Origins web series, he’s shown talking to children in his home country of Jamaica, inspiring them all the while.
“I’m just thankful for everybody that’s in front of me,” Jackson told the children. “I just want to say work hard, never give up.”
With his home country watching later this week, can Jason Jackson take the first step toward this year’s welterweight title? Only time will tell.
Across the way, and for that matter, across the world, Andrey Koreshkov comes into Thursday’s show with a record of 4-1 of his own in the last five contests. Himself a former Bellator Welterweight Champion, he enters hoping to build off of a unanimous decision win over Goiti Yamauchi (29-7 MMA) from last year’s PFL 6 in Sioux Falls, SD.
Although Koreshkov got his hand raised in victory, it wasn’t enough for him to stay alive in the playoff race by night’s end. He took time out recently to talk about the notoriety he’s received in Russia.
“In Omsk, I’m a fairly well-known athlete,” Koreshkov said, translated through onscreen subtitles. “Many people know me. Omsk is my hometown. Even my fateful moments are connected with this city.”
Fans of the PFL couldn’t have asked for a better main event to cap PFL 1 on Thursday with two former champions squaring off in a scenario where the stakes are coldly simple: One man goes on, the other goes home.
PFL 1 Co-Main Event: Jesus Pinedo vs. Adam Borics
Immediately prior, action shifts to the featherweight division for a contest matching Jesus Pinedo (23-6-1 MMA 0-0 PFL 2025), the 2023 PFL Featherweight Champion and Adam Borics (19-2 MMA, 0-0 PFL 2025.) Pinedo is sporting a 4-1 record in his last five bouts and has won three fights in a row, but comes in on a long layoff.
He hasn’t set foot inside the PFL SmartCage since Nov. 24, 2023, when he scored a standing TKO by way of punches over Gabriel Braga (15-2 MMA, 0-0 PFL 2025) to take the title at 145 lbs. Pinedo was scheduled to make a return to the cage twice in 2024.
Both planned fights, however, were scrubbed without a single punch thrown. Pinedo withdrew from his Feb. 24, 2024 contest versus Patricio Pitbull, now of the UFC, ahead of the show due to back issues. From there, he was booked to appear on Nov. 29 vs. Jeremy Kennedy during the championship card.
That fight, too, was scrapped after the former missed weight the day before the contest. He’s had plenty of time to prepare for the tournament and already has a championship in the division to his credit. Can he shake off the ring rust and make it four wins in succession during PFL 1?
Meanwhile, Adam Borics also has a 4-1 mark in his past five contests. Although Borics has had a long layoff, it hasn’t been nearly as long as Pinedo. 50 weeks ago, he got his hand raised by way of unanimous decision versus Enrique Barzola (21-9-2 MMA) during PFL 3.
His next fight was to have been during PFL 6 against Brett Johns (20-5 MMA) on June 28, but the contest was postponed due to his withdrawal from the event. Will Borics send Pinedo out of the tournament this Thursday?
PFL 1: Magomed Umalatov vs. Logan Storley
Also on the card, you’ll see a welterweight quarterfinal pitting Magomed Umalatov (17-1 MMA, 0-0 PFL 2025) against onetime Bellator Welterweight Champion Logan Storley (16-3 MMA, 0-0 PFL 2025.) Umalatov has posted a mark of 4-1 in his last five fights dating back to June of 2023.
He made it all the way to the Nov. 29 championship card before getting dropped in the third round by Shamil Musaev (20-0-1 MMA), who poured it on with ground and pound shots to take the title.
This is a man who had to settle for runner-up status last year in the tournament at 170 lbs. Redemption is on his mind this year, and it starts Thursday at PFL 1.
In the other corner, Logan Storley, nicknamed “Storm,” has gone 3-2 in his last five fights. Back in June of last year, he bested Luca Poclit (10-2 MMA) in the latter’s only fight during the 2024 PFL season during that night’s co-main event.
Storley has batted .500 up to now in the PFL, but he’s got an impressive resume going into PFL 1. Depending upon what happens on the rest of the card, this has Fight of the Night potential written all over it.
Final Thoughts
Which fight or fights are you looking forward to on PFL 1? Let us know in the comments.
