The Golden Moment: PFL Champions Describe Reaching the Mountaintop

The Professional Fighters League changed from a regular-season, points-based format to a single-elimination tournament in 2025, and the results more than paid off. Champions from around the globe, from all walks of life, were crowned in eight different weight classes. All had a story to tell.

Stars were born, and former champions returned to past glory. PFL World Tournament winners are now No. 1 contenders in their respective divisions, and some will face undisputed titleholders at future PFL Champions Series events. Tournament winners, young and old, had plenty to say about their life-changing achievements:

Women’s Flyweight | Liz Carmouche

“I definitely think that having another belt in another organization [and] being able to be the first female world tournament champion is one of those bucket-list items I wanted to achieve. When I look at other organizations, I don’t think women are getting the attention they deserve, 125 [pounds] is a very small group of women. When I look at women like [Cristiane] ‘Cris Cyborg’ [Justino] or Sara McMann, these are women who should still be fighting, but there aren’t weight classes for them, so I’d like to see the PFL add more weight classes so we can get more big fights in the future.”

Bantamweight | Marcirley Alves

“First and foremost, I’d like to thank God for this opportunity. I’m the first-ever PFL bantamweight champion. I’m representing Brazil as the first bantamweight champion in the PFL. I feel like I’ve finally achieved a career-long dream now, and I’m just getting started in this promotion. I’m ready for anyone and everyone they bring me in this division.”

Featherweight | Movlid Khaybulaev

“It was a very special moment to have coach Khabib Nurmagomedov put the belt on me. It was very important to me. He’s like a brother to me. We’ve been training together for a long time, and it brings me even more joy that he was the one who got to give me the belt. When I look back at the 2021 championship version of myself, I’ll be very honest, it’s true that when fighters age, they don’t feel the same. Back then, I felt myself and stronger, but my experience is what matters now.”

Lightweight | Alfie Davis

“I need someone to pinch me and wake me up. I feel like I’m in a dream. It feels amazing. I’m at a loss for words. Just thinking about how it’s going to change mine and my family’s life, it brought a mad amount of emotion out of me. In April, I was saying that the tournament was made for me, but I wasn’t sure. I was trying to convince myself. I guess now it’s true that it was made for me.”

Welterweight | Thad Jean

“This is my breakout party. This is a milestone, and like any real good milestone, this isn’t the end. It’s just the beginning of a new journey. The end goal of the journey is still the same, but there’s going to be more obligations with this tournament championship, and I’m ready for the rising stardom. I wouldn’t be here without my hard work and my faith. I want to be proof and show the world that you can do it, too.”

Middleweight | Fabian Edwards

“There’s so much more to achieve, so much more to achieve. It’s crazy. I’m 32 years old. I started this sport 10 years ago, and I feel like I have so many years and goals ahead of me. I have more big performances to come, and I look forward to achieving it all.”

Light Heavyweight | Antonio Carlos Jr.

“When I look back at myself from 2021 when I won the first belt, I would just tell myself to keep working and keep believing. At the beginning of this tournament, I wrote a message to myself to keep believing in myself. I look at that paper now, with this belt on my shoulder, and it all makes sense to me now.”

Heavyweight | Oleg Popov

“I feel good coming in and winning it all this year after finishing as a finalist last year. I’m ready to get back to training in a couple of days. I don’t want to lose my concentration. At times, chasing the belt can be distracting, so I try not to focus on it and now look where I got to. I’m the tournament champion.”