PFL 5 Tape Study Notes

Full card breakdown

PFL 5

Bruno Cappelozza vs Matheus Scheffel

Bruno is on a 5 fight winning streak with three wins coming in the first round over Delija, Dereese and his last win over Austin. We called his first round tko of Austin and won some good money on Bruno. All his wins are by tko. He formerlyfought at 205, but has really found a home at heavyweight. This is where he belongs. He is a well rounded fighter. He picked up and slammed Dereese which is no easy task. Has heavy hands with good combos. Likes the high kick. In his fight with jones we saw him hurt Jones with leg kicks and knock him out with a stiff jab. Dudes a monster

Scheffel or “Buffa” is a big dude with power in his hands. He lives and dies by the sword. He has 10 wins by tko and has lost 4 times by tko. He’s 3-3 in his last 6 with his losses being by a split decision and 2 tko losses to Azamat on DWCS and to Delija in his last fight. We called his last fight exactly. He won his last fight by tko round 1. Buffa has a tendency to lunge in with wild hooks. He doesn’t throw many straight punches rarely uses a jab. Relies on power to win fights. Flawed fighter

Bruno is too skilled on the feet for Buffa. Bruno gets another KO

Anthony Pettis vs Stevie Ray

Pettis came into the pfl thinking he was going to be top dog right away. He found out quick just how good these guys are. He fought and lost to clay collard and Raush Manfio. He didn’t give a bad account of himself though. Those guys are real legit and he hung around. We all know Pettis is an elite striker and an elite athlete. I loved how he was talking leading up to his last fight. He was saying he’s back to his basics. He wasn’t fed up, he’s not done with fighting and he was generally looking to right the ship. He did just that by getting a first round submission over Myles Price

Stevie Ray is yet another former UFC fighter and he came into the pfl coming off a win over Michael Johnson. He’s only fought once since 2019 and it was a loss to Alex Martinez. He has some really nice wins including MJ, joe Lauzon and Ross Pearson. He even holds a heal hook win over paddy Pimblett in a grappling match. He’s a well rounded fighter. He owns his own gym in Scotland. He is coming out of retirement for this fight. I actually think he lost that fight against Michael Johnson. He has some power and his striking is improving. He got out grappled by Martinez in his last fight

Stevie Ray should have the wrestling advantage and probably pure strength, but I like Pettis to keep this standing and probably knockout Ray. Ray looked hitable against Martinez and Pettis will have a big speed advantage

Chris Wade vs Kyle Bochniak

Wade lost a tough fight to Movlid in the pfl championship last year and is now coming off a win over Lance Palmer this season. That fight was very close, but Lance Palmer is a beast. Before that he won  3 in a row coming off that loss to Loik. He was able to turn the tides against the wrestling onslaught of Dizy and knockout Arman Ospanov. In his fight against Jenkins he used his wrestling and scrambles to get the win. Wade also has a decision loss to Islam makhachev which showed him constantly scrambling from bottom. I was relatively impressed just based on how good Islam is. Wade was getting beat by Arman prior to landing a headkick that ultimately led to the finish. Wade more than anything is a tough dude and will never quit 

Bochniak is a former ufc alumni with impressive wins over Barzola and Brandon Davis. He lost 3 in a row to get the boot from the ufc. His 3 losses were all by decision and all against tough comp. Since leaving the ufc he won 3 in a row including wins over Marcus Brimage and Carlton minus, before losing his last fight to bubba Jenkins. He didn’t look great against the very one dimensional minus. Won a close decision in that fight and ate a lot of punches. One thing I did like was his use of calf kicks, but he doesn’t move his head when he throws. Very hitable. In his last fight that showed and he got dropped early, but proved hard to put away.

This is a fight between two tough scrappy guys. I do think Wade is a bit better everywhere, but the price tag is too wide for me. Stay away fight, but the prediction is Wade by Dec

Klidson Abreu vs Renan Ferreira

Klidson shut me up in his last fight. I thought he was all but done. He came out in his last fight and showed that there are levels to this game. I still think he shouldn’t be a heavyweight, but he is a well rounded fighter with a good resume

Ferreira was on a bit of a run last year. He beat the shit out of Seumanutafa and KOd Stuart Austin in 31 seconds in his last fight. Before that he tapped out to werdum and then went on to win that fight by tko (Ref didn’t see the tap) and he also beat Jared vandaraa by sub. His last loss was because he dqd due to illegal strikes. Well rounded fighter. He demolished jones in his last fight in 25 seconds showing he is a true threat to win this tournament.

Ferreira is going to knockout Klidson in round 1. He is the much bigger fighter and has a 10 inch reach advantage. Renan is one of the favorites to win this tournament and it will show

Ante Delija vs Stuart Austin

Ante Delija is one of the biggest favorites on the card and it’s for good reason. This is a mismatch. Delija is an absolutely massive fighter out of Croatia. His only two recent losses are two Bruno Cappelozza and he made it to decision against him in his last fight. Delija is an aggressive fighter with real strong shots. He is also very heavy on top. He’s Always a danger to knock you out. Very good wrestling and strong as all hell. Stuart Austin has fought most of his career at 205 and he’s been kod in 5 of his last 8 fights. Delija round 1 tko

Denis Golstov vs Sam Kei

Speaking of big favorites Golstov actually is the biggest favorite on the card. Another mismatch. Golstov is the bigger guy and the better fighter everywhere. We get another first round ko. This card may have 4 or more first round kos

Ali Isaev vs Jamelle Jones

Ali Isaev was your 2019 PFL champion. He went through the likes of Denis Golstov and Jared Rosholt to claim the belt. He’s a massive dude coming out of Russia and he fights with your classic Russian style. Dude is a beast of a wrestler. He manhandled Rosholt and was able to pick him up over his head. On the feet he’s dynamic. Fast punches along with tones of kicks. He loves spinning techniques when it comes to kicks and he is able to throw them to the body and head with ease. He’s not scared of the takedown so throws strikes with wreck-less abandon. He hasn’t fought since 2019 and he’s been having trouble being medically cleared. I tried to do some digging as to why and couldn’t find any answers

Jamelle jones used to fight at 205 and lost on contender series to Mike Rodriguez. He also has a loss to ufc fighter William knight. Jones was right on the cusp of a ufc contract but wanted to see if he could win that million dollars in PFL first. Before losing to Bruno and Renan by tko he was on a 3 fight winning streak with all wins by ko in round 1. He is extremely strong and a great hammer. However he is not the best nail. He tapped to strikes against William knight and he couldn’t get any offense going against Bruno or Renan, but they are both top of the division.

Jamelle will be the much smaller guy and if Ali is anything like he used to be he will finish this fight. Ali’s time away and medical issues do scare me. The line is wide too. I’ll just watch this one

Bubba Jenkins vs Saba Bolaghi

Jenkins a wrestler has super impressive wins over lance palmer (2 time pfl champ) and Bobby Moffett. Jenkins uses his superior wrestling to get all his wins. He is super athletic. Between his athleticism and wrestling he almost always wins round 1. His  last loss was against the always tough Chris Wade. I’m not taking too much away from him in that loss. Wade was ready for that wrestling and never stopped scrambling, reversing and going for subs. He beat Kyle Bochniak in his last fight and Bochniak is not easy to beat. He had Kyle hurt early in that fight, but couldn’t put him away.

Saba is a German wrestler who holds multiple wrestling titles. He’s been fighting mma since 2014 and has a record of 14-2-1. He doesn’t have the best level of comp, but he has shown the wrestling and power striking you would expect from an athlete of this level. He let me down in his last fight. He didn’t use his wrestling and the step up in comp proved to be too much for him

This is Jenkins fight to lose. Both guys are athletic and both have a great wrestling background. Jenkins should be better on the feet. Saba is tough, but I think he gets finished here

Boston Salmon vs Brendan Loughnane

Salmon is another fighter that proved me wrong in his last fight. I was all over Moraes and salmon came in and dominated. He is a well rounded fighter. Good boxing and is super tough. He’s had some bad weight cuts in the past that he contributed to some of his bad performances and knockouts. He says those are now fixed

Besides the loss to Movlid Brendan Loughnane hadn’t  lost since 2017. He beat Bill Algeo on the contender series, but didn’t get the contract. Looked excellent against Moraes. He beat Tyler diamond in a fucking war. Both men showed heart cardio and all around mma games. Loved seeing Loughnane get pushed like that and came out on top. He fought his ass off against Movlid and took the champ to a split decision. He got rocked badly against a relatively unknown fighter in Ryogi in his last fight, but was still able to come away with a technical Dec. clash of heads caused a cut that stopped the fight. Didn’t look himself in that fight, said he has a lot he was dealing with, but I never heard what it was

Loughnane should win this fight. He is better everywhere, but at -400 I will stay away. If the Salmon that showed up last time fights the Loughnane that showed up last time than this is closer to a pick ‘em

Alejandro Flores vs Ryoji Kudo

Flores hits hard is very aggressive. He has nice kicks and good cardio. He’s been around a long time and lost to Rafael Alves on DWCS. He’s long and lanky. Tricky fighter. Hes a tough dude that will always fight for your money. Very underrated wrestling

Ryogi Kudo shocked a lot of people when he took it to Loughnane in his last fight. He was the first fighter ever to score a knockdown over Loughnane. He was trending toward a loss before a clash of heads opened up a big cut on Kudo and the fight was stopped. Hits very hard. Super strong for the division

I actually think Kudo is pretty good, but styles make fights and Flores should have the style to win the majority of the standup and even edge out the wrestling. Flores has a good chin and his toughness will get him through the power of Kudo. Flores by Dec