Rory MacDonald is back in action on June 17, when he takes on Gleison Tibau in the headliner of PFL 5. MMA event airs live from Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, NJ.
Former Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald (22-6-1) made his PFL debut in April, taking the win against Curtis Millender by submission in the first round. In his final bout inside the Bellator MMA cage he dropped a unanimous decision against Douglas Lima in the final of 170-pound World Grand Prix.
Gleison Tibau (35-15) is coming off the defeat suffered by unanimous decision against Joao Zeferino on the same night in April. Prior to that he won two bouts in a row – via first-round submission against Will Brooks and by UD against Efrain Escudero.
In the co-main event Ray Cooper III squares off against Nikolai Aleksakhin. The full PFL 5 fight card can be found below.
PFL 5 is the last chance for the welterweights and light heavyweights to earn a playoff spot during the PFL regular season (as per announcement sent out by the promotion). With six weight divisions (featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, light heavyweight, women’s lightweight, heavyweight) the top four fighters with the most points in each division will make the playoffs. In the playoffs, fighters compete to punch their ticket to the 2021 PFL world championship, the biggest night in MMA – 6 title fights in one night, the winner of each earns $1 million. 60 fighters started the season – only 24 will qualify for the playoffs.
“There were a lot of exciting first round finishes that took place in the first half of the season for the welterweight and light heavyweight divisions and all of these fighters know it may take another first round victory to seal their fates in the playoffs,” said PFL President of Fighter Operations, Ray Sefo. “All these fighters can still qualify for the PFL playoffs and know it will be a challenge as they face a win or go home scenario. I can’t wait to see what happens next on June 17.”
MMA fans can watch PFL 5: MacDonald vs Tibau live on ESPN2 and ESPN3, and live stream ESPN+. The main card is scheduled for 9 pm ET / 6 pm PT. The preliminary card kicks off at 5:30 pm ET / 2:30 pm PT.
PFL 5: MacDonald vs Tibau fight card
ESPN2 Card
- Rory MacDonald vs. Gleison Tibau
- Ray Cooper III vs. Nikolai Aleksakhin
- Emiliano Sordi vs. Dan Spohn
- Cezar Ferreira vs Chris Camozzi
ESPN+ Card
- Antonio Carlos Jr vs. Vinny Magalhaes
- Marthin Hamlet vs. Cory Hendricks
- Joao Zeferino vs. Jason Ponet
- Magomed Magomedkerimov vs. Curtis Millender
- Tom Lawlor vs. Jordan Young
- Sadibou Sy vs Aleksei Kunchenko
The post Rory MacDonald faces Gleison Tibau at PFL 5 on June 17 appeared first on FIGHTMAG.