The final spot in the 8-man Professional Fighters League (PFL) lightweight bracket will be filled at PFL 7 on Thursday. Two of the potential fighters are unfortunately out due to regulatory issues.
PFL 7 takes place at Ocean Resort Casino in Atlantic City and thus is regulated by the New Jersey State Athletic Commission, one of the most rigorous commissions in North America. The PFL told MMAjunkie that Foster was unable to get licensed and Nijem was unable to gain clearance from a medical suspension. Therefore, Johnny Case vs. Jason High will fight for the final spot in PFL’s eight-man championship bracket.
High suffered technical submission losses in both PFL fights, a controversial one vs. Efrain Escudero at June’s PFL 2, and a noncontroversial one vs. Natan Schulte at PFL 5. Case was a tournament alternate, and will be making his PFL debut.
The PFL presents MMA in a season format, in which fighters compete in two regular-season fights, win-and-advance playoffs, and season-ending championship fights. The regular-season fight criteria are not immediately understandable to the average fan. Fighters earn 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw. In addition, fighters earn 3 more points for a Round 1 finish, 2 more points for a Round 2 finish, and 1 more point for a Round 3 finish. These licensing issues make it more opaque still.
The final eight-man playoffs are more straightforward, a single-elimination format, with the winner earning $1,000,000. Still, the two-round quarterfinals and three-round semifinals will be fought on the same night in October, adding confusion to a sport that many fans appreciate not for stats but for simplicity. “Two men enter, one man leaves,” is compelling. “Twice, two men enter, and one man earns 3 points and 1-3 more points if he stops his opponent, unless someone can’t get licensed in Jersey in which case hey, and that gets you into an 8-man, the first two fights of which are on one night, and the finals are later,” not so much.
PFL 7 is the final regular-season event. The prelim card will stream live on Facebook, with the main card broadcast on NBCSN.
