Preview: PFL 4 ‘Loughnane vs. Pinedo’

Light Heavyweights

Ty Flores (12-3, 1-0 PFL) vs. Dan Spohn (19-8-1, 2-3-1 PFL)

What started out as a light heavyweight co-main event between defending champion Rob Wilkinson and Will Fleury has transformed into Flores-Spohn. It is not exactly what the PFL had in mind, but with Wilkinson out of the mix for 2023, someone will have to emerge as a new 205-pound champion. Flores is coming off a decision victory over Delan Monte at PFL 1. The Elevation Fight Team product absorbed some heavy shots from his Brazilian foe in Round 1 but gradually turned the tide through takedowns, positional control and methodical ground-and-pound in a unanimous decision triumph. Flores has some decent experience at the regional level with bouts in Fury Fighting Championship, Legacy Fighting Alliance and Resurrection Fighting Alliance and has shown himself to be fairly durable, most notably in a decision loss to Dustin Jacoby on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2020.

The 38-year-old Spohn will return to the PFL for the first time since June 2021, when he ended his first stint with the league on a four-bout winless streak. Spohn is well-traveled: He competed on Season 19 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” which led to a one-off appearance in the UFC, and he also went 1-3 with Bellator MMA from 2011 to 2012. He is coming off a decision triumph over fellow UFC veteran Dequan Townsend in October 2022 in his last MMA bout, and more recently, he was stopped by Chris Camozzi inside of a round at a Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship show on April 29.

Flores can be something of a grinder, and that might be the best approach to wearing down Spohn, whose gas tank has failed him on more than one occasion. Look for Flores to win an ugly decision.

Finish Reading » The Prelims