The stars of the inaugural PFL Europe season cleared the final hurdle before competing for the 2023 championships as they all successfully made weight for their respective bouts in Dublin, Ireland.
The 3Arena will play host to the event on Friday night, with four $100,000 European champions set to be crowned on a packed night of fights.
The main event will feature a huge showcase for Dublin featherweight Nathan Kelly, who puts his eight-fight win streak on the line against 6-3 Frenchman Dimitry Solimeis. Kelly impressed with a pair of first-round submission victories in his first two bouts under the PFL banner, and a unanimous decision victory over Damion Nelson on the PFL’s 2023 playoffs in New York earned him a spot at the top of PFL Europe’s season finale. He’ll take on Solimeis, who arrives looking to bounce back into the win column after a decision loss in his most recent outing. Prior to that setback, Solimeis won four in a row.
Preceding the main event is a quartet of PFL Europe championship bouts. Dublin’s Frans Mlambo takes on Germany’s Khurshed Kakhorov in the bantamweight final, while Cork’s John Mitchell faces Jakub Kaszuba for the 155-pound championship.
The light heavyweight title will see England’s Simeon Powell face Slovenia’s Jakub Nedoh, while women’s flyweight honors will be decided when England’s Dakota Ditcheva puts her unbeaten record on the line against Valentina Scatizzi.
The fight card also features rising English bantamweight star Lewis McGrillen, who faces Brazil’s Weslley Maia in a bout that already has plenty of heat behind it, while Irish lightweight Dylan Tuke takes on Yazid Chouchane in a lightweight showcase bout.
Also in action are former UFC and Bellator bantamweight, and former Cage Warriors bantamweight champion, Brett Johns, who moves up to featherweight to take on David Tonatiuh Crol in his PFL debut, and former UFC middleweight Tom Breese, who faces off against Cleiton Silva in a light heavyweight eliminator to join the PFL’s global roster for 2024.
Check out the full list of official weights below.
2023 PFL Europe Championship: Official weigh-in results
- Nathan Kelly (144.3) vs. Dimitry Solimeis (145.3)
- Frans Mlambo (134.8) vs. Khurshed Kakhorov (134.6) – for bantamweight championship
- John Mitchell (154.4) vs. Jakub Kaszuba (154.4) – for lightweight championship
- Simeon Powell (204.6) vs. Jakub Nedoh (204.6) – for light heavyweight championship
- Dakota Ditcheva (124.7) vs. Valentina Scatizzi (124.7) – for women’s flyweight championship
- Dylan Tuke (156) vs. Yazid Chouchane (155.3) – PFL Europe 2024 lightweight qualifier
- Andreeas Binder (161.7*) vs. Daniele Scatizzi (154.8) – PFL Europe 2024 lightweight qualifier
- Tom Breese (203.7) vs. Cleiton Silva (203.3) – PFL Global League 2024 qualifier
- Kikadze Bondo (135) vs. Dom Wooding (135.4)
- Conor Hughes (155.2) vs Sebastian Santana Guedes (154.5) – PFL Europe 2024 lightweight qualifier
- Lewis McGrillen (136) vs. Weslley Maia (135.7)
- Brett Johns (146) vs. David Tonatiuh Crol (145.5)
- Nate Kelly (125.4) vs. Callum Seaton (126) – amateur bout
* Fighter missed weight, bout canceled