Jesus Pinedo Back on the Scene

Jesus Pinedo was a million-dollar Professional Fighters League champion in 2023, and he would like nothing more than to reclaim his spot atop the company’s 145-pound mountain.

“El Mudo” will set out on his quest when his featherweight quarterfinal opposite Adam Borics serves as the PFL 2025 World Tournament First Round 1 co-main event on Thursday at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. Pinedo, 28, has rattled off three straight victories, all of them finishes.

In Borics, he faces a seasoned pro. The Kill Cliff Fight Club-trained Hungarian has won five of his past six bouts, a decision defeat to Bellator MMA champion Patricio Freire his only misstep. Borics, 31, boasts a 19-2 record with 10 finishes. He last saw action at PFL 3 on April 19, when he was awarded a unanimous verdict over “The Ultimate Fighter Latin America” Season 2 winner Enrique Barzola.

“He’s a good fighter. That can’t be denied,” Pinedo told Sherdog.com. “He has victories against well-regarded fighters, but I’m superior. I’m superior in grappling and striking. The main thing is that I’m superior as far as my mindset goes. In our fight, I’m going to break him. I’m going to put pressure on him. Simply put, the fight is going to end in the first or second round.”

Inactivity has curbed some of the enthusiasm surrounding Pinedo, as he has not fought since he punched out Gabriel Braga in their PFL featherweight final almost 500 days ago. A back injury forced the Peruvian’s withdrawal from a scheduled showdown with the aforementioned Freire in February 2024, and a failed weight cut resulted in an unfortunate fight cancellation against Jeremy Kennedy nine months later.

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“The injury left me out of the game for half a year so I could undergo therapy, rehabilitation and all that,” Pinedo said. “A couple of things worked against me [ahead of the Kennedy fight]. I didn’t adapt well to the time change between my country and Saudi Arabia. Even the water was different. It has a little more sodium. I didn’t make weight to get to the fight, but we were ready otherwise.”

Pinedo operates out of the Pitbull Martial Arts Centre in Lima, Peru, where he fine tunes his skills under longtime coach Ivan Iberico. However, he spent the last several weeks training with his team in Mexico City, helping stablemate Kevin Borjas prepare for his UFC on ESPN 64 encounter with Ronaldo Rodriguez. Borjas won by unanimous decision.

“My training camps are always the same, with the same people with whom I grew up,” Pinedo said. “Our team came here, and we are training together and getting ready for the fight.”

Pinedo expects a barnburner with Borics for as long as it lasts.

“I’m confident,” he said, “that ours will be one the best fights of the night.”