Professional Fighters League Rings-In New Year with a Record Setting 2018 Championship at Madison Square Garden in NYC to Cap Breakthrough Inaugural Season
5 Million MMA Fans Across the Globe Including Huge Audience in Russia Watch 6 New PFL Champions Crowned
Total PFL Playoff Prize Pool $10 Million With Each of Six Champions Earning $1M
WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Professional Fighters League (PFL) capped its breakthrough inaugural season on New Year's Eve in New York City with a star-studded, record-breaking 2018 Championship Event. With a global audience cheering them on, the PFL punctuated its regular season and post season format with a premiere championship event by crowning six new world champions with each taking home an unprecedented $1 million prize.
- Middleweight - Louis Taylor (Chicago, IL) via TKO at :33 of the 1st Round
- Featherweight – Lance Palmer (Columbus, OH) via unanimous decision
- Lightweight – Natan Schulte (Joinville, Brazil) via unanimous decision
- Light Heavyweight – Sean O'Connell (Salt Lake City, UT) via TKO 5:00 of the 3rd Round
- Heavyweight – Philipe Lins (Natal, Brazil) via TKO at :33 of the 4th Round
- Welterweight - Magomed Magomedkerimov (Russia) via Submission at 2:18 of the 2nd Round
For the 2018 Championship, the PFL saw a record-setting number of fans tune-in with over 5 million fans watching in the U.S. on NBCSN and in the rest of the world on Facebook Watch as well as on select international sports networks. In addition to the millions of passionate PFL fans who watched via broadcast and digital streaming, the League had over 15,000 fans participate in the first-ever DraftKings 2018 World Championship Pick 'Em Style Fantasy Game.
The League's New Year's Eve event also featured two-time gold medalist, Kayla Harrison who remains undefeated and is the number one ranked 155 pound MMA female athlete in the world.
"The PFL Championship on New Year's Eve from Madison Square Garden was an exclamation point on our fantastic inaugural season of reimagining MMA with the first-ever sport season format of individual fighters competing in regular season, playoffs, and championship," said Peter Murray, CEO of the PFL. "Over 5 million fans around the world watched as 6 great fighters earned championship titles and became instant millionaires. Despite the excitement of 2018, the PFL is just getting started, and look for new announcements as we continue to innovate for MMA fans in 2019."
Further details on the PFL's 2019 season will be announced in the coming weeks.
About Professional Fighters League
The Professional Fighters League (PFL) presents MMA for the first time in the sport format where individual fighters compete in a regular season, playoffs, and championship. PFL Season has 72 Elite MMA athletes across 6 weight-classes, with each fighting twice in the PFL Regular Season in June, July, and August. The top 8 fighters in each weight-class advance to the single-elimination PFL Playoffs in October. The PFL Championship is New Year's Eve in Madison Square Gardens with the finals in each of six weight classes competing for the $10 million prize pool. The PFL is broadcast live on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) and streamed live worldwide on Facebook Watch. Founded in 2017, the PFL is backed by group of sports, media, and business titans. For more info visit PFLmma.com.
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