Preview: PFL 7, 2022 Playoffs

With six regular-season events in the books, it is Money Time for those who have made it to the Professional Fighters League playoffs.

The postseason begins with lightweight and light heavyweight semifinals on Friday at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. The spotlight will be shining especially bright on former Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Extreme Cagefighting titleholder Anthony Pettis, who enters as the No. 1 seed at 155 pounds despite losing to Steven Ray via submission in his most recent fight. With the stakes raised, Pettis and Ray will square off again in the PFL 7 main event. Of any playoff participant, perhaps no one has more to prove than “Showtime,” whose PFL results have not matched the expectations that accompanied his signing. There is intrigue at light heavyweight, as well, with former UFC talents Omari Akhmedov and Rob Wilkinson finding new life in the PFL’s 205-pound weight class with two finishes apiece during the regular season.

Now to the PFL 7 preview:

Lightweights

Steven Ray (24-10, 1-1 PFL) vs. Anthony Pettis (25-13, 1-3 PFL)

ODDS: Ray -135, Pettis +105

In an interesting twist of fate (pun intended), Pettis and Ray will square off for the second consecutive time after the Scotland native punched his ticket to the PFL playoffs with a modified twister submission of “Showtime” at PFL 5. It was reminiscent of the maneuver used by Dustin Poirier to dispatch Pettis in their bout at UFC Fight Night 120 and is on the short list of “Submission of the Year” candidates for 2022. Rematches often tend to look quite different than their predecessors, but Ray was doing good work prior to the finish, as he consistently walked Pettis down and made the Roufusport standout fight off his back foot with solid 1-2 combinations. Ray got stronger over the second half of his loss to Alex Martinez at PFL 1 and that continued against Pettis, a sign that he has shaken off the rust from a retirement that lasted approximately two-and-a-half years. Typically known as counterpuncher with a solid clinch game, Ray made the proper adjustments to take advantage of Pettis’ weaknesses, and he would be wise to repeat that aggressive approach, because waiting gives the ex-UFC lightweight champion his best opportunity to unleash something spectacular.

Pettis still owns an impressive arsenal of kicks that he can throw with relative ease, but he needs to the proper space to do so. Savvy opponents will pressure “Showtime” and make him move backward or take him down when he gets too kick-happy. Pettis has an active submission game, but he is far too willing to fight from his back or take chances with scrambles that could leave him compromised. The reality is that while Pettis is still capable of the spectacular, his boxing fundamentals are lacking and some of his athleticism has faded with time—hence the 1-3 mark in PFL thus far.

While Ray is unlikely to be able to duplicate the spectacular submission he pulled off the first time around, he already showed he has the ability to make the fight difficult for Pettis. If “Showtime” cannot pull off a highlight-reel finish, look for Ray keep his opponent on his heels standing and win his share of scrambles and grappling exchanges for a decision triumph.

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Silveira vs. Akhmedov
Aubin-Mercier vs. Martinez
Wilkinson vs. Monte
The Prelims
Qualifiers