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Middleweight, welterweight playoffs set for PFL 10 in Washington, D.C.

The Professional Fighters League playoffs are rolling into the nation’s capital.

On Monday, officials announced via press release that PFL 10 will take place at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Congress Heights, Washington, D.C., on Oct. 20. Fighters from the middleweight and welterweight divisions will compete twice in the same evening for the chance to advance to the league’s season finale on Dec. 31 where they will compete for a championship belt and a $1 million prize.

Currently at the top of the 185-pound and 170-pound standings, respectively, are Abus Magomedov and Ray Cooper III. Veterans Jake Shields, Rick Story, and John Howard will also be among those competing at PFL 10.

The main card will air live on NBCSN, with preliminary and post-fight coverage on Facebook.

Seeding in the PFL standings was determined by a points system, with a fighter earning three points for a win, plus additional points for a finish (3 points for finishing in the first, 2 for finishing in the second, 1 for finishing in the third). Fighters were expected to compete two times, though a few of the playoff participates made it in as late-notice replacements due to others dropping out due to injury or other reasons.

As a result of the seeding, the quarter-finals will feature a rematch between Ray Cooper III and Jake Shields. Cooper defeated Shields, a former Strikeforce champion and one-time UFC title challenger, by second-round TKO back in July.

Shields also fought Cooper’s father twice, losing a majority decision to him in August 2002 and avenging the loss via first-round submission in July 2004.

The announced PFL 10 card is as follows (seeding in parentheses, bout order to be determined):

Middleweight

Abus Magomedov (1) vs. Gasan Umalatov (8)

Bruno Santos (4) vs. Sadibou Sy (5)

Shamil Gamzatov (3) vs. John Howard (6)

Louis Taylor (2) vs. Rex Harris (7)

Alternate boutAndre Lobato vs. Eddie Gordon

Welterweight

Ray Cooper III (1) vs. Jake Shields (8)

Rick Story (4) vs. Handesson Fereira (5)

Magomed Magomedkerimov (3) vs. Pavlo Kusch (6)

Joao Zeferino (2) vs. Bojan Velickovic (7)

Alternate boutAbubakar Nurmagomedov vs. Yuri Villefort

At the end of the quarter-finals, the winner of the 1 vs. 8 matchups will face the winner of the 4 vs. 5 matchups, and the winner of the 2 vs. 7 matchups will face the winner of the 3 vs. 6 matchups.

The winners of those semifinals will then move on to the championship show on Dec. 31.

This article first appeared at MMA Fighting – All Posts

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