Fight Facts: PFL 2025 World Tournament 2

Fight Facts is a breakdown of all of the interesting information and cage curiosities on every card, with some puns, references and portmanteaus to keep things fun. These deep stat dives delve into the numbers, providing historical context and telling the stories behind those numbers.

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TOTAL NUMBER OF PFL FIGHTS: 1,233
TOTAL NUMBER OF PFL EVENTS: 130

Just like that, the Professional Fighters League is already halfway through the opening round of its major tournament. Bantamweights and women’s flyweights were on display for the svelte lineup, one that had more shocking results than one can shake a stick at. With brackets on fire around the world, dark horses and unexpected talents have filled in the voids. 2025 PFL World Tournament 2 featured one of the heftiest betting upsets not just in the company but across MMA this year, a twister that prefers Irn-Bru and a special achievement for a woman who can crank like the best of them.

What Bracket: Slotting into the headliner on one day’s notice, Marcirley Alves stunned Leandro Higo when he prevailed by split decision. In doing so, Alves earned his first decision victory since 2021.

Bucket List Stoppage: In 85 seconds, Liz Carmouche decimated Ilara Joanne with body shots and finished her on the floor. The former or current Bellator MMA queen notched the eighth fastest knockout in PFL women’s divisional history. Of note, Larissa Pacheco performed four of those seven quicker stoppages.

Oddstravaganza: Closing with a massive -1200 line in her favor, Carmouche ran through the +700 underdog Joanne with relative ease. “Girl-Rilla” had never seen betting odds anywhere close to this high on her side, with per previous max -700 against Kana Watanabe last year.

Italian Luck: Replacement fighter Mando Gutierrez wrangled heavy favorite Francesco Nuzzi with a rear-naked choke to advance in the tourney. His finish rate boosted to 82% with the win.

It’s Been a While: The loss for Nuzzi was his first since Adrian Claudiu Iancu also snagged a rear-naked choke on him in 2016. At that time, opponent Gutierrez was three years away from turning professional.

Almost Over -9000: Stepping up to replace Ciaran Clarke, Justin Wetzell missed weight by over two pounds while closing as a +775 underdog to Kasum Kasumov. Despite this, the Dragon Ball Z aficionado Wetzell shocked the world by winning a decision over the -1400 Kasumov, notching the most significant betting upset this year thus far in major competition.

Good Job, S.E. Cupp: Ekaterina Shakalova ruined Juliana Velasquez’ hopes of moving to the semifinals when she hit a rear-naked choke on her in just over two minutes. The Ukrainian becomes the first woman not named Carmouche to beat Velasquez as a pro.

Scottish Twister from a Brit: Now sporting a stoppage rate of 75%, Jake Hadley landed a modified twister on Matheus Mattos to move on in his bracket. His twister is the third in company history, with Steven Ray responsible for the first two.

Divine Endurance: Handling Kana Watanabe en route to a decision victory, Jena Bishop saw her stoppage rate fall to a flat 50%. She dragged Watanabe to the third round for Watanabe’s fifth straight, accounting for her whole PFL tenure and beyond.

A Fresh Face Emerges: Getting the tap from Diana Avsaragova with 12 seconds left in the first round, Elora Dana kept her flawless record intact at 8-0. She is the first woman in company history to ever land a neck crank submission.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into PFL 2025 2, Mattos had never been submitted (18 fights), Watanabe had never dropped consecutive bouts (17 fights) and Avsaragova had never been finished (seven fights).