PFL World Tournament 8: 2025 Finals Preview and Predictions

The 2025 PFL World Tournament is winding down as the promotion enters its three events featuring the tournament finals. This weekend, the welterweight and featherweight tournaments will come to an end, with the winners earning $500,000 each. The welterweight final will feature undefeated Thad Jean taking on NCAA Division I wrestling standout Logan Storley. The featherweight final will showcase Dagestan’s undefeated Movlid Khaybuaev, who will face Peru’s Jesus Pinedo.

The PFL World Tournament 8: 2025 Finals airs live in its entirety on ESPN+ starting at 6 p.m. ET. The main card also airs on ESPN at 9 p.m. ET. Let’s take a look at the event’s preview and predictins

Thad Jean will look to keep his perfect record intact while claiming PFL gold; can he best Logan Storley in the main event?

Thad Jean really impressed me in his previous fight. He stung Jason Jackson with his striking and had enough wherewithal to not get taken down and dragged too deep into his opponent’s game. I scored the decision for Jackson, but it was close enough that I’m not crying foul. The win has made Jean one of the breakout stars of this season of PFL.

Logan Storley used his wrestling to get by Masayuki Kikuiri, but he didn’t have things all his own way. Kikuiri was able to land some hard shots on him in the latter stages of the fight. The former interim Bellator champ is now on the precipice of his most important, and likely lucrative, prize of his career.

Both men’s semifinal bout was a decent warm-up for their final opponent. Storley is a more dogged wrestler than Jackson, though. And Jean is a more clinical striker than Kukuiri.

After proving he can hurt Jackson and not get totally overwhelmed by a good wrestler, I’m favoring Jean in this match-up. He is going to have a lot of size over Storley, standing five inches taller with a five-and-a-half reach advantage. He’s got good power from range, so I think he might be able to chip away at Storley and use damage to reduce the threat of a takedown.

Storley has only been stopped with strikes once, by Shamil Museav last year. I think Jean might wobble him a few times on route to a decision win.

Movlid Khaybulaev won both of his 2025 fights by decision; does the Russian “Killer” secure a title and get a finish in the process?

The undefeated Movlid Khaybulaev already has some PFL silverware in his display case. The 34-year-old will now be hoping to add the 2025 featherweight title to his 2021 tournament prize. He should count himself a little lucky that he got this far, though. In the first round, he won a very close split decision over Jeremy Kennedy. His subsequent win, over Tae Kyun Kim, was far more convincing.

Jesus Pinedo continues to look unstoppable in the PFL SmartCage. This year, he has melted both Ádám Borics and Gabriel Braga without breaking much of a sweat. He, too, is a former winner, having scored a TKO over Braga in 2023 to lift the championship.

Pinedo will be aggressive from the start in this fight and might leave himself open for a takedown and some dominant wrestling from the Dagestani. However, with Khaybulaev now in his mid thirties, I think some of his potency in that department is starting to wane. Pinedo, at 29, seems to be hitting his stride as a mixed martial artist.

I think Pinedo is going to continue to roll in this match and score another quick finish here. Khaybulaev has never lost, but he has been stopped before, when Daniel Pineda finished him before a failed drug test turned that into a no contest. The Kennedy fight was quite telling about where Khaybulaev is right now as a fighter, and I just don’t think he’s going to be quick enough to get out of the way of Pinedo’s rapid-fire assault.

Aseal Adjoudj lost his professional debut and has rattled off nine straight wins since that fight; will he make it ten in a row and defeat Yves Landu?

Aseal Adjoudj quietly went undefeated in Bellator before scoring a finish on the PFL 2024 championship undercard last November. He’s not fought since then. Yves Landu has been even less active. His last fight was in Bellator in May 2024.

At 38 years old, Landu is a fun and energetic striker, but he’s past his prime, and I don’t think he’ll be able to hang with the 26-year-old, who is also considerably bigger.

Adjoudj, a former kickboxer, will have the striking advantage in this one, and I think he’ll just be too big and strong for Landu, who looks more like a bantamweight than a featherweight.

I think Adjoudj is capable of getting a stoppage here.

Which fight is the sleeper match-up on this card?

Jakud Kaszuba vs. Sergio Cossio could be a really good fight. Kaszuba is 14-0 and is the back-to-back PFL Europe lightweight tournament winner. Cossio is 27-10-1 and has spent much of his career on the Mexican fight circuit.

Kaszuba is a good volume striker with brutal ground-and-pound, especially with his short elbows. He’s also got good grappling and can finish with a choke after wearing people down with that heavy ground striking. Cossio is a wild brawler who can bring a lot of pressure. He’s mostly a striker, but he can snatch up opportune submissions when they present themselves.

I think these two could have a great war on the feet, but I favor Kaszuba to eventually get Cossio down and land some of that ground-and-pound for the finish.