PFL 2025: Exciting First Matches and Prospects to Watch

SportsGrid

Watch PFL 2025: Exciting First Matches and Prospects to Watch - SportsGrid on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00What do you think about these two guys and their first performances in the PFL 2025 tournament?

00:06Well, for one, Thad Jean did exactly what he needed to do and what the tournament's supposed to represent.

00:11Supposed to represent opportunity, especially for guys, for prospects that maybe the MMA world is unfamiliar with

00:16or normally where they wouldn't get this type of opportunity anywhere else.

00:20And Thad fought a very tough opponent.

00:22A lot of people thought that he was not going to win this fight.

00:25And not only did he win, he won by knockout.

00:26And then him going in there and just making a statement saying, I don't care what your record is, who your name is.

00:32It's my skill set versus yours.

00:34You know, he just showed that he's got that star power from a marketing standpoint.

00:39He's a young guy.

00:41He'll admit he still has things to learn.

00:42There were still some, you know, parts of that fight where you kind of look at it like, all right, that's a little bit of an experience.

00:47A little bit of being nervous.

00:48He hasn't fought in a while either.

00:49But that was a very tough opponent.

00:51And he didn't just beat him.

00:52He knocked him out.

00:53And then you got a guy in Jason Jackson who, you know, the PFL is really, they're riding him right now from a marketing standpoint, right?

01:00He is somebody that is one of the best in the world, regardless of organization.

01:04Very tough, well-rounded fighter from a great gym.

01:08Both South Florida guys, coincidentally.

01:10And to me, it's kind of like you have the old lion, although Jackson's not really old per se.

01:14And the young lion, this is the matchup that ideally you want from a PFL perspective, right?

01:19Either Jackson goes out there and shows Thad the, you know, the veteran lesson, or Thad just emerges to superstardom, just like how Dakota did.

01:29You know, Dakota had that moment with Tyler Santos.

01:31Thad's going to have his opportunity with Jason Jackson.

01:33It's one of the most, you know, sought-out fights, I think, you know, regardless of organization this year.

01:40It's a shame that it's not happening in the finals.

01:42But the fact that we're getting that fight, I think, is absolutely awesome.

01:47And then, of course, we also have, after some great results coming out of that fight card,

01:53the next matchup will be Logan Storley versus Kikuri Storley, of course,

01:57using what he's, you know, known for, that great wrestling, to just dominate his opponent over three rounds,

02:02control him, do what he needs to do to get the unanimous decision, 30-27.

02:05And then his opponent, Kikuri, another guy coming in here,

02:08maybe a little bit lesser known to some of the people who haven't been following outside this organization

02:13or some of the other, you know, just following the big ones, coming in there and get a nice take, TKO.

02:17After the second round, his opponent just deciding enough was enough.

02:20Bashar did not want to, you know, do more.

02:22I was trying to get the takedowns, couldn't get it,

02:24and was starting to get picked apart on the feet by the end of that second round

02:27before Kikuri gets the retirement.

02:31Yeah, I mean, look, I'll be very honest with this one.

02:34I think the winner of this tournament will come from the Thad Jean, Jason Jackson bracket,

02:39but they'll have to stop the wrestling of Logan Storley, which if you can't stop it, you're in trouble.

02:44And he showed that.

02:45I think Logan's next fight, he'll be able to wrestle.

02:48I was not overly impressed with Kikuri.

02:50I thought he gave Bashar too many opportunities, took too many bigs.

02:54You know, it was one of those things where I thought Kikuri was going to dominate in that minus 165 range.

02:59I picked him.

02:59I'm glad, you know, he won from a betting perspective.

03:01That's great, but he was slowing down a little bit too.

03:04And if you can't keep a pace and to stop Logan Storley's takedowns, you're in trouble.

03:09And Storley went to the well.

03:10He did what he needed to do against a guy.

03:12He didn't give Luciano any chance to win on the feet.

03:14And when it comes to the wrestling, there's not many better than Logan Storley.

03:18So, you know, if Kikuri can't stop it, we're going to see another one-way dominant decision probably from Storley.

03:24And then Storley, you know, against whoever, Jackson or Thad, will be a very interesting fight.

03:28And then in the other tournament, the main event,

03:30the one that, you know, when you talk about Jackson and Thad Jean and whoever wins that has a good chance of winning it all.

03:36The same happens, I think, where you get Pinedo versus Braga.

03:39Again, these guys are matching up.

03:40They have a long history.

03:41They know each other well.

03:42Pinedo coming in there and doing what he needs to do against Borch, you know,

03:45outweighed him and then landing the big strikes to finish it in that first round.

03:49While Braga got the late replacement coming in against him and was able to, you know,

03:54just do what he should have did and dominated, you know, the lesser opponent there.

03:57Both these guys, a lot of experience, as we said, a lot of experience against each other.

03:59And now we get to see them match up again, maybe a little earlier than we would have liked.

04:05You know, I want to give a shout out to Dupra, Braga's opponent, because to your point,

04:09he took it on short notice and he went in there and he tried to finish.

04:12He knew he had to either get it done quick or he was going to lose.

04:15And he went on his shift, man.

04:17I mean, that guillotine was tight, but a very smart fighter, didn't panic.

04:21And look, I thought this was fantastic for the PFL.

04:23You had a lot of young guys, exciting fighters getting finishes.

04:26Braga is a very good fighter.

04:28Pinedo is like a bat out of hell.

04:30You know, like, if you're going to go in there with him, you either have to knock him out

04:33or you're in for a war that you're probably not going to succeed with.

04:37So that fight, look, this is why the tournament does what it does.

04:41The tournament's the star, not the fighters per se, right?

04:43Because the matchups, you know, it is what it is.

04:46I'm happy we're seeing this fight.

04:48Braga versus Pinedo should be a lot of fun.

04:50And on the other side, look, Mobidiyev did not look fantastic.

04:54Jeremy Kennedy, I thought, fought very well.

04:56Kennedy won that fight very close.

05:00But listen, ring rust is a real thing.

05:02And that might have been the problem with Mobidiyev.

05:04Go live.

Category

Transcript

Recommended