PFL Challenger Series Week 8 Predictions, Vegas Odds, and Picks (Mar 17)
- PFL Challenger Series Week 8 is the final event of the 2023 season.
- Five “second chance fights” are scheduled for Friday, March 17.
- Kendly St. Louis vs. Paulo Henrique lightweight fight headlines the event.
History teaches us that favorites win all the time in season 2 of the PFL Challenger Series. All four of them won last week. And the week before. And the week before that. In fact, only four underdogs have won in the 2023 series.
Are we going to see all favorites win on Friday, March 17? That’s when the final event of the 2023 Challenger Series is on the program.
Jump to:
- Lightweight: Kendly St. Louis vs. Paulo Henrique
- Women’s Featherweight: Jackie Cataline vs. Evelyn Martins
- Heavyweight: Denzel Freeman vs. Raiden Kovacs
- Welterweight: Quemuel Ottoni vs. Chris Brown
- Welterweight: Sanon Sadeck vs. Ali Omar
There are five “second chance fights” confirmed for Week 8, with eight fighters who’ve already fought once in 2023 getting another opportunity to land a contract with the Professional Fighters League.
Schedule and How to Watch
- Where: Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida
- When: Friday, March 17, at 9 p.m ET
- How to Watch: Fubo Sports
PFL Challenger Series Week 8 Predictions
Kendly St. Louis vs Paulo Henrique
Kendly St. Louis choked out Nick Alley in Week 1 of the 2023 PFL Challenger Series. Alley was supposed to fight another opponent, who pulled out just 24 hours before the fight. St. Louis stepped in and got himself an easy win in what was supposed to be a welterweight fight. This Friday, he’s fighting in the lightweight division, which is where he feels most comfortable.
His next opponent lost in his first fight of the 2023 PFL Challenger Series to Manoel Sousa by a split decision. It was his sixth loss in his professional career, as well as his fourth by decision. Actually, this guy has lost by stoppage only once, and it happened in his fourth pro fight.
We don’t think he’s going to lose by a finish on Friday, but we do think he’s going to lose.
Pick
Jackie Cataline vs Evelyn Martins
Jackie Cataline gets to fight a “second chance fight” for the second time in two years. Last season, she defeated her opponent in Week 3 but didn’t get the contract. She had another chance in the final event of the season but ended up losing by a unanimous decision. Will it be different this year?
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In Week 2 of the 2023 season, Jackie Cataline got an impressive win in round 1. She won by TKO as the referee just had to stop her from demolishing her rival. Unfortunately for her, her performance wasn’t good enough for her to get a PFL contract. But she’ll get another chance for that this Friday when she takes on Evelyn Martins, a promising Brazilian fighter who’s 3-0 overall.
Martins is 14 years younger than Cataline but has fought only one fight fewer than the American. It’s because Cataline used to be involved with wrestling in the past. Knowing this, it’s clear that she’s got plenty of weapons in her arsenal, which is why a win by stoppage seems very likely.
Pick
Denzel Freeman vs Raiden Kovacs
Raiden Kovacs is fighting his first-ever professional MMA fight on Friday. And we don’t think he’s gonna do well on his debut. It’s because he’s locking horns with a very good fighter.
The man in question is Denzel Freeman who’s 3-0 in his professional career, with two wins by KO/TKO. He’s a few inches shorter than Kovacs, but he’s much faster and way more powerful. Plus, his opponent doesn’t have a great chin. The evidence of this is that in his last three amateur fights, Kovacs got knocked out twice.
Pick
Quemuel Ottoni vs Chris Brown
Both fighters are great finishers, and you can be 100% sure both will go for a finish on Friday. Both tend to throw a lot of strikes in every fight. Ottoni has more wins by KO/TKO than his opponent, but we think Brown is a better striker.
After all, four of his five knockout wins happened in LFA, where Ottoni has fought only once. Brown has also fought in the PFL as well. It happened last season in the Challenger Series when we saw him lose to Carlos Leal by a split decision.
Pick:
Sanon Sadeck vs Ali Omar
For each fighter, Friday’s fight is the biggest challenge they’ve ever had. That’s why we might see them fight carefully, making sure they don’t get finished early. Omar seems to like to finish his fight early, but we doubt that’s going to be his strategy on Friday.
This goes especially considering how good his opponent is at avoiding strikes and preventing takedowns. Sadeck’s only pro loss happened by a split decision, while two of his three wins happened by unanimous decision. He looks set to take the fight to the final bell, after which he will probably win the judges’ votes.
Pick:
