Will Bellator never die?
The impact of the now-deprecated MMA brand is across the welterweight field of the first PFL World Tournament of the year, with former champion trio Jason Jackson, Andrei Koleschkov and Logan Story highlighting the eight-person group. Masu.
The competition may be impressive, but there's no doubt who's on top, the last guy who held the Bellator MMA welterweight crown before the sale to the PFL in late 2023.
“If they stand across the cage from me, I'll beat them all,” Jackson told the Post before Tuesday revealed the welterweight tournament roster. “Buy everything, everything, win this tournament, get that belt and get the money that comes with it.”
The referenced “funds” are a $500,000 award for seven men and one woman who appear in brackets of eight categories that are staged throughout the year.
This is half of the winners of the PFL season received before the tournament format came into play in 2025.
The first round matchup began on April 3 in Orlando, Florida in the backlot at Universal Studios, followed by the semi-finals from June 12, followed by three events starting on August 1, and ESPN It will be broadcast on the platform.
The matchup had not yet been announced by the PFL, but one name stood out from Jackson's heart crowd, Koleskhov.
“I rode my radar a few times,” said the Jamaican, who moved to South Florida as a young man. “We were in the Berator field, and for some reason, I leapt over him.”
Certainly, Jackson (18-5, 9th finish) put together eight straight wins after dropping Bellator's debut, winning former UFC lightweight champions Benson Henderson, Paul Daly and Douglas Lima, and Jaroslav Lima He won the Bellator crown in November 2023, a few days before the promotional sale was announced before knocking out Amosov.
Jackson's title run caused a decision loss to Ramazan Kramagomedov in June after beating former PFL season winner Lake Cooper III in the one-off PFL vs. Bellator event last February.
Jackson says that it is necessary to “a little finesse, fun and relaxation” to win the PFL tournament, rather than simply “brute strength” but he has made those elements into the final battle with Kramagomedov. He said he didn't show it.
“The spiritual part [the fight] Jackson says. “…I had to do it first [after the fight was] Take a deeper step and study for yourself. That's the first thing I did.
“I studied, I looked for problems within me, looked at where I was wrong, evaluated it, worked on new things, outside my family, outside my family, outside my gym, Grow up in my son, my child, and teach me how to be a better person, because it is all that matters at the end of the day. The good you do and the good you left on this earth. ”
Jackson has been defending a bit to return to the cage since his defeat. He wanted to fight against Lorenz Larkin, who knocked out Levan Choheli in his final battle with the PFL in September.
“I showed them that they ruined me, that they made me wrong, that why I didn't become myself that night, that I couldn't fulfill my duties. I wanted it to be,” Jackson said. “They blocked it.”
That's the beauty of participating in a tournament. That's a set schedule if he has his end by winning and maintaining a healthy weight.
The tournament was previously big with Bellator, but first in the late 2010s and early early years, and in recent years in the Grand Prix format.
But for Jackson, this marks his first time participating, and he's all in.
“On paper, I feel great because I know that if I win, you have to give me a fight,” Jackson said. “I don't have to sit down and say, 'When will the next fight be?' Now I have to do [have a fight] By law; it said in a paper I signed, so there is no argument that I am busy or inactive or anything of its nature. ”
Former Veritor champions will be Magomor Umaratov, Bellator alumni Muhamed Berkamov and Masayuki Kikuiri, 2024 PFL European Tournament champion Florimzendeli, and “The Ultimate Fighter” season 32 competitions. This is a Giannis Bachar.
If necessary, Dmitrii Hrytsenko and Joseph Luciano are designated alternatives to welterweight brackets.
The featherweight field was also announced Wednesday morning.
Jesus Pinedo, Gabriel Braga, Adam Bolix, Movlid Khaybulaev, Jeremy Kennedy, Yves Landu, Nathan Kelly and Tae Kyun Kim make up the roster at £145.
Most notable of the Octets is Pinedo, the winner of the 2023 PFL season, who hasn't competed since beating Braga for the crown.
Frederick Duplas and Nathan Garrieve act as alternatives.
The roster of the other six weight classes will unfold in the coming weeks.
