Tomorrow night’s (Thurs., July 25, 2019) Professional Fighters League (PFL) 5 is down three fighters.
Lightweights Ramsey Nijem and Carlao Silva and featherweight Gadzhi Rabadanov have been removed from the event for failing to make weight earlier today. New Jersey State Athletic Control Board (NJSACB) counsel Nick Lembo told ESPN.com that Silva weighed in a full three pounds over the lightweight non-title fight limit of 156 pounds. Rabadanov did not even weigh in.
UFC veteran Nijem did attempt to weigh in twice, but the result was not counted. Lembo said, “he would not put his full feet on the scale either time.” Nijem has not been able to fight this season in PFL. He received three points when his opponent Ronys Torres failed his medicals earlier this season.
With all three fighters off of the event from Atlantic City, New Jersey, PFL did some last-minute reshuffling. PFL lightweight champion Natan Schulte was set to meet Nijem tomorrow. Instead, he’ll now face Jesse Ronson, who was set to fight Silva. Meanwhile, Rabadanov was set to fight Daniel Pineda in Pineda’s PFL debut. Now, Pineda will just get three points for an automatic victory in PFL’s season-long scoring.
PFL 5 is scheduled to be headlined by a lightweight match between Chris Wade and Akhmed Aliev. Aliev currently leads the lightweight division with six points after scoring a first-round victory in his first fight of the season. Wade will come in with three points.
Defending featherweight champion Lance Palmer will meet Luis Rafael Laurentino in the PFL 5 co-headliner. Laurentino has six points to rank second at 145 while Palmer currently has three.
