PFL 8: 2022 Playoffs - Welterweights and Heavyweights - Main Card Odds, Predictions, Picks

• “Prince” Magomed Umalatov, heavy favourite to defeat Rory “Red King” Macdonald in the semi final main event

• Carlos Leal faces Sadibou Sy in the other welterweight semi final

• Ante Delija vs Renan Ferreira and Denis Gotlzov vs Matheus Scheffel set as heavyweight semi finals

Rory MacDonald vs Magomed Umalatov – Welterweight Semi Final Main Event

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Rory MacDonald is a legend of mixed martial arts and has fought some of the best fighters in the UFC’s welterweight division during his time there, such as Carlos Condit, Nate Diaz, BJ Penn and Tyron Woodley, not to mention his all out wars with Robbie Lawer.

After falling short of the UFC welterweight title, MacDonald opted not to re-sign with the UFC and made a bold move by signing for Bellator where he defeated Paul Daley by second round submission in his debut before facing Douglas Lima for the Bellator welterweight title which he won by unanimous decision.

Despite his decorated history, the “Red King” finds himself on one of the worst runs in his career and has so far gone 2-3 since signing for the PFL.

Macdonald’s most recent defeat was a unanimous decision and came at the hands of fellow semi finalist Sadibou Sy who faces Carlos Leal in the PFL 8 main card opener.

Notably however, MacDonald defeated his last two opponents, Curtis Millinder and Brett Cooper by first round rear naked choke submission.

His opponent, Magomed Umalatov is an undefeated human highlight reel fighting out of Astrakhan, Russia.

He trains at Eagles MMA gym and started off his pro career fighting in the Astrakhan MMA federation where he earned a first round submission in his debut.

He had many more fights on the Russian regions scene, mostly under the Wolf Fight Cxbatka banner, before signing for the Professional Fighters League.

He throws heat from the opening bell and tends to get the early knockout in most cases but when that doesn’t work out, he has a slick submission game as a backup plan.

“Prince” Magomed Umalatov has all the tools necessary to win the fight but it will definitely be a difficult ask to stop the ever durable Rory “Red King” MacDonald within three rounds.

Our Picks

Magomed Umalatov to win by unanimous decision

Ante Delija vs Renan Ferreira – Heavyweight Semi Final Co-Main Event

Croatian heavyweight powerhouse Ante Delija started off his MMA career fighting on the local Croatian scene before testing his skills at M-1 and Rizin before joining the PFL.

Since joining the promotion he has earned three victories including two knockouts, and two losses to the same opponent, Bruno Cappellozza.

His opponent, Renan “Problema” Ferreira also poses a knockout threat, with four first round KO’s to his name.

Ferreira made his PFL debut back in 2019 vs Brett Martin where he lost via disqualification for punches to the back of the head in the opening round.

Since joining the PFL, “Problema” has put together a record of four wins, with two losses and one no contest in a fight vs Fabricio Werdum.

Renan Ferreira is extremely dangerous in the opening round and will look to get Ante Delija out of there early.

Our Pick

Renan Ferreira to win by KO/TKO/DQ in round one

Dennis Goltsov vs Matheus Scheffel – Heavyweight Semi Final

Dennis “The Russian Bogatyr” Goltsov is an absolute grappling ace with ten out of his twenty-nine wins coming by way of submission.

Goltsov’s two fight win streak however, consists of a first round ground and pound finish over Cody Goodale and a unanimous decision win over Maurice Greene.

Matheus “Buffa” Scheffel is more of a sprawl n brawl type of fighter with an astounding eight first round knockout wins on his record.

MAthues Scheffel’s most recent victory was a unanimous decision win over Bruno Cappelozza at PFL 5.

Both semi finalists in the matchup have faced and lost to Ante “Walking Trouble” Delija since joining the professional fighters league and it will be interesting to see if they can defeat the Croatian should they meet him in the tournament final.

Our Pick

Dennis Goltsov to win by KO/TKO/DQ in round two

Carlos Leal vs Sadibou Sy – Welterweight Semi Final

Carlos “The Lion” Leal brings an impressive eleven fight win streak into this bout and has defeated some of the professional fighters league’s best welterweights since joining the promotion in February of this year.

He faced Korey Kuppe in his PFL debut who he defeated by first round knockout before defeating Chris Brown by split decision in his next bout.

Leal’s most impressive victory so far was his unanimous decision win over Ray Cooper III in his most recent PFL fight.

Sadibou Sy has had a mixed bag of results since joining the PFL in 2018, going 5-4-2 with one no contest so far, however he has won both of his fights in 2022.

He started off the year with a split decision win over Nikolai Aleksakhin before going on to earn the biggest win of his career over PFL 8 headliner, Rory “Red King” MacDonald.

Carlos Leal will have to work on closing the distance and initiating grappling exchanges to win rounds while Sadibou Sy will look to utilize his eight inch reach advantage to score points from a comfortable distance.

Our Pick

Carlos Leal to win by unanimous decision