Fight Facts: PFL 2022 Regular Season 4

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: 758
TOTAL NUMBER OF PFL EVENTS: 81

The Professional Fighters League started off strong but fell to pieces with its latest offering thanks to a dreary main card full of listless fights and head-scratching scorecards. When the night ended, the light heavyweight bracket and three-quarters of the lightweight playoff standings were on the books, with one lone match taking place next week to decide that last spot at 155 pounds. The fourth event of the 2022 PFL Regular Season featured a Canadian upsetting the lightweight applecart, the first win in years for an aging slugger and an extremely active former champ missing out on the tournament.

Boxing Judges Are Worse: For the second year in a row, Clay Collard found himself eliminated from contention due to questionable scorecards. In 2021, Raush Manfio topped him in a match that many observers considered Collard the victor, while he fell short at PFL 4 2022 to Alex Martinez by split decision that every scoring media member awarded it to him. All five of his PFL fights, win or lose, have gone the distance.

The Shoe’s on the Other Face: Ultimately claiming the 3 seed at light heavyweight, Antonio Carlos Jr. resorted to taking a clear-cut decision over Bruce Souto to reach the playoffs. “Cara de Sapato” has still yet to suffer a loss as a PFL fighter across six appearances.

The OAM Train: In his 2022 season, Olivier Aubin-Mercier clinched a place in the playoffs with two decisions and six points to his credit. Those victories have come over the only lightweights to ever win gold in PFL: Natan Schulte and now Raush Manfio.

Now What Does He Do: By close split decision, Jeremy Stephens ended his lengthy winless streak by beating Myles Price. The triumph marks the first time Stephens has gotten his hand raised since February 2018, and at that time, PFL had not yet started running tournaments.

Repping the “International” Flag: Omari Akhmedov earned his place as the no. 2 seed at 205 pounds by choking Teodoras Aukstuolis out with an arm-triangle choke. His technical submission is the first in this year’s season, and only the sixth since 2019 for the PFL.

Schulte Your Shot: A decision victory for Natan Schulte was not enough to reach playoff contention this season, as he pulled off the win in the rematch with Marcin Held. The triumph was Schulte’s 11th on the roster, with only Ray Cooper III and Kayla Harrison (12 each) and Lance Palmer (15) celebrating more.

Fifth Season Incoming: Seven of the 11 wins for Schulte have come by decision, spanning four different PFL seasons. The Brazilian ties Chris Wade for the second-most victories on the scorecards in organizational history, while Palmer holds the top spot with nine.

Always Online Guy: Since joining the company when it was World Series of Fighting in 2017, Schulte has competed 15 times. Palmer (21) is the lone competitor with more WSOF-PFL fights than Schulte, while Cooper III also holds 15.

Show Me the Monte: As a +425 betting underdog, Delan Monte wrecked Emiliano Sordi in 92 seconds to find a place in the playoffs. The Brazilian closed as the biggest underdog to land an upset in the PFL since Jordan Young at +500 knocked Akhmedov out in 2021.

Win and Truly In: Monte kept his flawless 100% finish rate intact by laying waste to Sordi. As a professional, Monte has yet to go the distance across 11 bouts.

From Pesta to Pesto: Claiming the top seed at light heavyweight, Rob Wilkinson stopped Viktor Pesta in the opening round to increase his total to 11 points. His 93% finish rate, which includes two knockouts since joining PFL this season, is split evenly with exactly half by knockout and the other half by submission.

Free Agency Abound: Making a splash but ultimately not reaching the playoffs with his one appearance, Joshua Silveira settled with a first-round drubbing of Marthin Hamlet to improve his spotless record to 9-0. The American Top Team standout has earned eight of those wins by finish.

What Was the Point: In a non-tournament “showcase” bout, Nate Jennerman blew through late replacement Jake Childers at 2:00 of the second round. “Nasty Nate” now holds a career submission rate of exactly 75% following his rear-naked choke of Childers.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into PFL 4: 2022 Regular Season, Manfio had never suffered a defeat in PFL (five fights), Souto (19 fights) and Aukstuolis (17 fights) had never lost consecutive bouts and Childers had never won or lost a fight in the second round (11 fights).