The Skilled Fighters League shouldn’t be your typical fight sports activities league, the truth is, their slogan ‘The hardest take a look at in MMA simply received more durable’ couldn’t be extra becoming. Of their most up-to-date occasion, the second spherical of the Gentle Heavyweight and Light-weight seasons occurred in Salt Lake Metropolis, Utah. Because the night time progressed on, 4 fighters from every division punched their tickets to the 2024 PFL Playoffs, and a few didn’t even get their hand raised of their respective struggle on the night time. PFL President Ray Sefo, in attendance on the night time, took some delight within the PFL system and the way it nonetheless mattered after the fights ended.
Because of the finish outcomes of their first spherical common season fights, Clay Collard, Josh Silveira, and Michael Dufort all made it into the 2024 PFL Playoffs regardless of developing brief of their second-round struggle. The keenness and power surrounding the moments for these three, particularly Dufort, who gained the ‘Bud Gentle Celebration of the Evening’ as soon as he discovered he earned his spot within the Playoffs.
𝗠𝗜𝗔𝗠𝗜 𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 🛬@MichaelDufort1 with the Celebration Of The Evening#PFLRegularSeason | B2YB @budlight pic.twitter.com/OgxUFaQDVm
— PFL (@PFLMMA) June 22, 2024
It’s that power proven by Dufort that makes the PFL particular and with the proper understanding of their factors system that makes PFL occasions particular in comparison with in every single place else within the fight sports activities area.
Chatting with the media after the occasion, Sefo spoke on how moments like these captured in Salt Lake Metropolis, show that the factors system in place does work, and there’s a larger thrill within the night time not being outlined by the end result within the cage.
“Generally fighters lose and so they don’t get the chance to return out and carry out. Clearly for those who lose your first struggle, you lose your second then your probabilities of playoffs are zero. Should you win your first struggle and also you earn excessive factors, there’s a really excessive chance relying on who comes via and who loses and who wins, that you would, like Michael Dufort, he was capable of rejoice tonight as a result of he made it to the Playoffs.”
Observing the primary two rounds of the Common Season additionally allowed for Sefo to ship a message to each fighter who could also be contemplating becoming a member of the PFL: issues don’t finish simply since you lose your first common season struggle.
“That’s proper, you’re not executed. That is additionally one of many issues I mentioned in my fighter assembly after the weigh-ins. There’s nonetheless a chance, even a man who has three factors, you don’t know, after all you don’t want anybody to get damage however folks do get damage in fights, in coaching camps. So these three factors may get them into the playoffs if anyone fell out. Once more, the system works, the fighters find it irresistible, we find it irresistible. It’s necessary that everyone understands how the system works.”
The PFL factors system does certainly work. It really works so properly {that a} fighter’s instant future shouldn’t be outlined by the end result contained in the SmartCage. There are implications in every common season struggle for all rivals, and as soon as there’s a full understanding from the viewers, it’ll be onerous to decelerate the speedy rise that the Skilled Fighters League is at the moment on.
