PFL Champions Series 3 is upon us. Friday, more than a month removed from the end of the promotion’s 2025 World Tournament, championship fights will again be the focus of a day of thrilling action inside the SmartCage.
Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, serves as the setting for this week’s card. Inside the United States of America, Friday’s card begins at 11:30 am ET/ 8:30 am PT on ESPN+ and its associated mobile app.
All told, if there are no adjustments to be made to the schedule for Friday, the final version of this amazing card will feature a slate of 11 fights in PFL Champions Series 3.
PFL World Championships at Stake in PFL Champions Series 3
John Martin, who recently assumed duties as Professional Fighters League CEO from Peter Murray, issued a press release last week to alleviate confusion over how the promotion’s champions are acknowledged
PFL Update: pic.twitter.com/WLgOMD1GKb
— John Martin (@JohnMartinPFL) September 24, 2025
“Going forward, each division will have one PFL World Champion, the single, undisputed titleholder in that weight class,” he wrote. Four PFL World Championship fights will take place before 2025 ends. Two of them happen on PFL Champions Series 3, including the main event of the evening.
PFL Champions Series 3 Main Event: PFL Lightweight World Championship: Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Paul Hughes II
At the top of the bill this coming Friday, the PFL Lightweight World Championship is up for grabs in an intriguing rematch. Current world titleholder Usman Nurmagomedov (19-0, 1 NC MMA, 1-0 PFL) squares off with Paul Hughes (14-2 MMA, 2-1 PFL) for the second time this year. This is a five-round fight at five minutes per round to close the show.
Back in January, during the inaugural PFL Champions Series event inside the same Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, the last-ever Bellator Lightweight World Championship fight was held, with Nurmagomedov winning (majority decision) after 25 minutes of action. How will the rematch turn out?
Nurmagomedov comes in with a 4-0 record with one no-contest in his last five fights dating back to 2022. Before the original fight with Hughes this past winter, he secured a unanimous decision win over Alexander Shabily (24-4 MMA, 5-1 Bellator) in San Diego last year.
He’s already beaten Paul Hughes once in 2025, so can he go 2-for-2? Watch the PFL Champions Series 3 main event to find out.
Meanwhile, Paul Hughes makes the walk for this rematch having gone 4-1 in his last five contests dating back to April of last year. On May 10, he bounced back from defeat in the first fight against Nurmagomedov, besting Bruno Miranda (17-6 MMA, 4-3 PFL) in PFL Europe with a first-round knockout in 42 seconds’ time.
Hughes has had more than eight months to stew over what happened on that January night. Can he even the score?
PFL Champions Series 3 Co-Main Event: PFL Light Heavyweight World Championship: Corey Anderson vs. Dovlet Yagshimuradov
Immediately prior to the headliner, the PFL Champions Series 3 co-main event of the evening takes place in the light heavyweight division. Corey Anderson (19-6, 1 NC MMA, 1-0 PFL,) the final Bellator MMA Light Heavyweight World Champion, seeks to add another belt to his mantle at home when he meets 2024 PFL Light Heavyweight Champion Dovlet Yagshimuradov (25-7-1 MMA, 4-0 PFL.) This, too, is a five-round fight at five minutes per round.
Corey Anderson enters Friday night’s card with a record of 3-1 with one no-contest in his last five bouts dating back to November of 2022. At the present time, he’s won three fights consecutively.
On July 19, during PFL Champions Series 2 in Africa, he stopped 45-fight veteran Denis Goltsov (36-9 MMA, 14-4 PFL) with a second-round knockout. This is a man who had to find out from his own wife that Bellator MMA ceased to exist in January.
Imagine being the champion of an organization chilling on the couch and your wife walks in and tells you "did you see this? Bellator is dead now?"… and all you can do is shrug your shoulders in confusion…. CUZ you still haven't heard a thing. Lol
Yeaaaah, that was me.— Corey 'Overtime' Anderson (@CoreyA_MMA) January 13, 2025
Anderson’s got a championship pedigree, but so does his opponent across the way. Dovlet Yagshimuradov is perfect in his last five fights at 5-0.
Back on Black Friday of last year, he scored the 2024 PFL Light Heavyweight Championship by way of first-round knockout (punches) against Impa Kasanganay (16-9 MMA, 9-3 UFC.) Yagshimuradov already owns the title from last year’s playoffs, but this one’s for long-term supremacy at 205.
PFL Champions Series 3: Magomed Magomedov vs. Sergio Pettis
Also on PFL Champions Series 3, you’ll see a bantamweight showdown pitting Magomed Magomedov (21-4 MMA, 4-3 PFL) against Sergio Pettis (24-7 MMA, 1-0 PFL.) The former has a mark of 3-2 in his last five trips to the cage.
In Wichita on June 21, he secured a unanimous decision win over Sarvarjon Khamidov (15-2 MMA, 0-1 PFL) during a tournament alternate bout on the PFL 6 early card. Magomedov has been an up-and-down fighter of late and hasn’t had a sustained winning streak since getting his hand raised five times in a row from August of 2017 to April of 2021.
Only time will tell if this is the start of another such run. In the other corner, Sergio Pettis treks to Dubai with a 3-2 record of his own in his five past MMA contests.
Three months ago, he defeated Raufeon Stots (21-3 MMA, 1-1 PFL) by way of unanimous decision after three rounds of action in the PFL 7 late card from Chicago during a showcase bout.
Both fighters have had nearly the same amount of preparation time for Friday’s contest. Which one of these men will emerge as the victor?
Final Thoughts
Which fight or fights on PFL Champions Series 3 are you looking forward to on Friday? Let us know in the comments.
