Preview: PFL 2025 World Tournament First Round 1

Featherweight Quarterfinal

Jesus Pinedo (23-6-1, 3-1 PFL) vs. Adam Borics (19-2, 1-0 PFL)

Pinedo was set for stardom after winning the PFL featherweight tournament in 2023, but the Peruvian puncher has been sidelined since fracturing his ankle during his training camp for Patricio Freire. Since Pinedo’s injury, the PFL featherweight class has grown deeper from the influx of talent from the Bellator merger, so he will have to prove that he’s still the cream of the crop. Borics was one of the top Bellator featherweights who threw his hat in the PFL SmartCage in 2024. With wins over Jeremy Kennedy, Aaron Pico and Mads Burnell, the Hungarian earned himself a shot at Freire’s Bellator crown but fell short on the cards. Borics impressed in his PFL debut on April 19 but missed the rest of the year due to an ankle injury of his own. With both fighters returning from injury, it will be imperative to establish a strong start fast. Pinedo is lighting in a bottle. With 14 knockouts on his ledger, you can expect tons of leather flying in the cage when he fights. He’s all gas, no breaks, and that can be a nightmare, especially in a three-round fight. Before his ankle injury, Pinedo finished Brendan Loughnane, Bubba Jenkins and Gabriel Braga in three consecutive fights and could be the most violent featherweight in the tournament.

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Where Borics thrives is in his ability to mix things up on the ground. The Kill Cliff Fight Club standout excels through solid game plans and mixing his striking into his sneaky-good grappling. He can build momentum as the fight goes, although overcoming Pinedo’s opening onslaught will be tough. With the pressure to prove that he’s still among the best featherweights in the world, Pinedo’s heat out of the gate may lead to an opening against a rusty Borics. If the former champ lands clean, he has the killer mentality to put the former title challenger away and make a big-time statement to the rest of the field.

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Jackson vs. Koreshkov
Pinedo vs. Borics
Umalatov vs. Storley
Kennedy vs. Khaybulaev
The Prelims