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List of Professional Fighters League champions

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Professional Fighters League (formerly the World Series of Fighting, or "WSOF") is an American mixed martial arts promotion, and the following is a history of its champions in each weight class. As well as championship history for their International promotions WSOF: Canada and WSOF Global Championship.

PFL Tournament champions

2019

Event(s) Date Division Champion Runner-up Semi-finalists
PFL 10 December 31, 2019 Women's Lightweight United States Kayla Harrison Brazil Larissa Pacheco Canada Sarah Kaufman
Canada Bobbi Jo Dalziel
Featherweight United States Lance Palmer United States Alex Gilpin United States Daniel Pineda
Canada Jeremy Kennedy
Lightweight Brazil Natan Schulte Tajikistan Loik Radzhabov United States Chris Wade
Russia Akhmet Aliev
Welterweight United States Ray Cooper III United States David Michaud Brazil Glaico França
United States Chris Curtis
Light Heavyweight Argentina Emiliano Sordi United States Jordan Johnson Russia Bazigit Atajev
Russia Rashid Yusupov
Heavyweight Russia Ali Isayev United States Jared Rosholt Russia Denis Goltsov
United States Kelvin Tiller

2018

Event(s) Date Division Champion Runner-up Semi-finalists
PFL 11 December 31, 2018 Featherweight United States Lance Palmer United States Steven Siler Brazil Alexandre Almeida
United States Andre Harrison
Lightweight Brazil Natan Schulte Russia Rashid Magomedov United States Chris Wade
Brazil Thiago Tavares
Welterweight Russia Magomed Magomedkerimov United States Ray Cooper III Brazil Handesson Ferreira
Serbia Bojan Veličković
Middleweight United States Louis Taylor Russia Abusupiyan Magomedov Sweden Sadibou Sy
United States John Howard
Light Heavyweight United States Sean O'Connell Brazil Vinny Magalhães Russia Bazigit Atajev
Canada Smealinho Rama
Heavyweight Brazil Philipe Lins United States Josh Copeland United States Alex Nicholson
United States Jared Rosholt

Men's Championship history (defunct)

All WSOF Championships were retired and vacated on June 7, 2018, when the PFL league format began at PFL 1. The PFL crowns seasonal champions as an alternative to recognizing a single lineal champion.

Heavyweight Championship

206 to 265 lbs (93 to 120 kg)
No. Name Event Date Reign Defenses
1 Greece Smealinho Rama
def. Derrick Mehmen 		WSOF 14
Edmonton, AB, Canada 		October 11, 2014 237 days
2 Bulgaria Blagoy Ivanov WSOF 21
Edmonton, AB, Canada 		June 5, 2015 3484 days

1. def. Derrick Mehmen at WSOF 24 on Oct 17, 2015
2. def. Josh Copeland at WSOF 31 on Jun 17, 2016
3. def. Shawn Jordan at WSOF 35 on March 18, 2017
4. def. Caio Alencar at PFL Fight Night on November 2, 2017

Ivanov vacated title on April 25, 2018, after becoming free agent and signing with the UFC.

Light Heavyweight Championship

186 to 205 lbs (84 to 93 kg)
No. Name Event Date Reign Defenses
1 United States David Branch
def. Teddy Holder 		WSOF 23
Phoenix, AZ, USA 		September 18, 2015 507 days 1. def. Vinny Magalhães at WSOF 33 on Oct 7, 2016
Branch vacated title on February 6, 2017, after becoming free agent and signing with the UFC.

Middleweight Championship

171 to 185 lbs (77 to 84 kg)
No. Name Event Date Reign Defenses
1 United States David Branch
def. Jesse Taylor 		WSOF 10
Las Vegas, NV, USA 		June 21, 2014 961 days

1. def. Yushin Okami at WSOF 15 on Nov 15, 2014
2. def. Clifford Starks at WSOF 30 on Apr 2, 2016
3. def. Louis Taylor at WSOF 34 on Dec 31, 2016

Branch vacated title on February 6, 2017, after becoming free agent and signing with the UFC.

Welterweight Championship

156 to 170 lbs (70 to 77 kg)
No. Name Event Date Reign Defenses
1 United States Steve Carl
def. Josh Burkman 		WSOF 6
Coral Gables, FL, USA 		October 26, 2013 154 days
2 Brazil Rousimar Palhares WSOF 9
Las Vegas, NV, USA 		March 29, 2014 492 days

1. def. Jon Fitch at WSOF 16 on Dec 13, 2014
2. def. Jake Shields at WSOF 22 on Aug 1, 2015

Palhares was stripped of the title on August 3, 2015.
3 United States Jon Fitch
def. João Zeferino 		WSOF 30
Las Vegas, NV, USA 		April 2, 2016 698 days

1. def. Jake Shields at WSOF 34 on Dec 31, 2016
2. def. Brian Foster at PFL Daytona on June 30, 2017

Fitch vacated title on March 1, 2018, after signing with Bellator.

Lightweight Championship

146 to 155 lbs (66 to 70 kg)
No. Name Event Date Reign Defenses
1 United States Justin Gaethje
def. Richard Patishnock 		WSOF 8
Hollywood, FL, USA 		January 18, 2014 1196 days

1. def. Nick Newell at WSOF 11 on July 5, 2014
2. def. Luis Palomino at WSOF 19 on Mar 28, 2015
3. def. Luis Palomino at WSOF 23 on Sep 18, 2015
4. def. Brian Foster at WSOF 29 on Mar 12, 2016
5. def. Luiz Firmino at WSOF 34 on Dec 31, 2016

Gaethje vacated title on April 27, 2017, after signing with the UFC.

Featherweight Championship

136 to 145 lbs (61 to 66 kg)
No. Name Event Date Reign Defenses
1 Armenia Georgi Karakhanyan
def. Lance Palmer 		WSOF 7
Vancouver, BC, Canada 		December 7, 2013 196 days
2 United States Rick Glenn WSOF 10
Las Vegas, NV, USA 		June 21, 2014 176 days
3 United States Lance Palmer WSOF 16
Sacramento, CA, USA 		December 13, 2014 371 days

1. def. Chris Horodecki at WSOF 21 on June 5, 2015

4 Brazil Alexandre Almeida WSOF 26
Las Vegas, NV, USA 		December 18, 2015 226 days
5 United States Lance Palmer (2) WSOF 32
Everett, WA, USA 		July 30, 2016 231 days
6 United States Andre Harrison WSOF 35
Verona, NY, USA 		March 18, 2017 446 days

1. def. Steven Rodriguez at PFL Everett on July 29, 2017

The WSOF Featherweight championship was retired on June 7, 2018 when the PFL league format began at PFL 1.[1][2]

Bantamweight Championship

126 to 135 lbs (57 to 61 kg)
No. Name Event Date Reign Defenses
1 Brazil Marlon Moraes
def. Josh Rettinghouse 		WSOF 9
Las Vegas, NV, USA 		March 29, 2014 1,011 days

1. def. Josh Hill at WSOF 18 on Feb 12, 2015
2. def. Sheymon Moraes at WSOF 22 on Aug 1, 2015
3. def. Joseph Barajas at WSOF 28 on Feb 20, 2016
4. def. Josh Hill at WSOF 32 on Jul 30, 2016
5. def. Josenaldo Silva at WSOF 34 on Dec 31, 2016

Moraes vacated title on January 3, 2017, after becoming a free agent and signing with the UFC.
2 Russia Bekbulat Magomedov
def. Donavon Frelow 		WSOF 35
Verona, NY, USA 		March 18, 2017 446 days
The WSOF Bantamweight championship was retired on June 7, 2018 when the PFL league format began at PFL 1.[1][2]

Flyweight Championship

116 to 125 lbs (53 to 57 kg)
No. Name Event Date Reign Defenses
1 Russia Magomed Bibulatov
def. Donavon Frelow 		WSOF 24
Mashantucket, CT, USA 		October 17, 2015 446 days
Bibulatov vacated title on January 5, 2017, after joining the UFC.

Women's Championship history (defunct)

All WSOF Championships were retired and vacated on June 7, 2018 when the PFL league format began at PFL 1. The PFL crowns seasonal champions as an alternative to recognizing a single lineal champion.

Women's Strawweight Championship

106 to 115 lb (48 to 52 kg)
No. Name Event Date Reign Defenses
1 Mexico Jessica Aguilar
def. Alida Gray 		WSOF 8
Hollywood, FL, USA 		January 18, 2014 484 days

1. def. Emi Fujino at WSOF 10 on June 21, 2014
2. def. Kalindra Faria at WSOF 15 on Nov 15, 2014

Aguilar vacated title on May 18, 2015, after joining the UFC.

International Championship history (defunct)

All WSOF International Championships were retired and vacated on June 7, 2018 when the PFL league format began at PFL 1. The PFL crowns seasonal champions as an alternative to recognizing a single lineal champion.

WSOF Canada Championship

Canadian Welterweight Championship

156 to 170 lbs (70 to 77 kg)
No. Name Event Date Reign Defenses
1 Canada Ryan Ford
def. Joel Powell 		WSOF Canada 1
Edmonton, AB, Canada 		February 21, 2014 472 days
Ford vacated title on June 8, 2015, after retiring from the sport of MMA.

WSOF Global Championship

Global Heavyweight Championship

206 to 265 lbs (93 to 120 kg)
No. Name Event Date Reign Defenses
1 Russia Evgeny Erokhin
def. Brandon Cash 		WSOF Global Championship 2: Japan
Tokyo, Japan 		February 7, 2016 851 days 1. def. Richard Odoms at WSOF Global Championship 3: Philippines
All WSOF International championships were retired and vacated on June 7, 2018 when the PFL league format began at PFL 1.[1][2]

Global Flyweight Championship

125 lbs (57 kg)
No. Name Event Date Reign Defenses
1 Japan Yusaku Nakamura
def. Lawrence Diguilio 		Deep Cage Impact 2016: DEEP vs. WSOF-GC
Tokyo, Japan 		December 17, 2016 537 days
All WSOF International championships were retired and vacated on June 7, 2018 when the PFL league format began at PFL 1.[1][2]

WSOF Tournament champions

Event(s) Date Division Champion Runner-up
WSOF 5
WSOF 7
WSOF 10 		June 21, 2014 Middleweight United States David Branch United States Jesse Taylor
WSOF 20
WSOF 23 		September 18, 2015 Light Heavyweight United States David Branch United States Teddy Holder
WSOF 25 November 20, 2015 Lightweight United States Brian Foster Brazil João Zeferino

Champions by nationality

Division champions include title holders and interim title holders. Interim champions who become undisputed champions are listed only once. Tournament runners-up are not included.

Country Division
champions		 International
champions		 Tournament
champions		 Total
United States United States 9 - 3 12
Brazil Brazil 3 - - 3
Russia Russia 2 1 - 3
Greece Greece 1 - - 1
Armenia Armenia 1 - - 1
Bulgaria Bulgaria 1 - - 1
Japan Japan - 1 - 1
Canada Canada - 1 - 1

Multi-division champions

Fighters who have won championships in multiple weight classes.[3] Tournament champions are not included.

Champion Division Won Lost Defenses Reign Total reign
United States David Branch Middleweight June 21, 2014
(WSOF 10) 		February 6, 2017
(Free Agency) 		3 961 days 1468 days
Light Heavyweight September 18, 2015
(WSOF 23) 		February 6, 2017
(Free Agency) 		1 507 days

Most consecutive title defenses

The following includes all WSOF champions who were able to consecutively defend their title two times or more. Fighters with the same number of title defenses are listed chronologically.

Defenses Champion Weight class Span
5 United States Justin Gaethje Lightweight Jan 18, 2014 - April 27, 2017
Brazil Marlon Moraes Bantamweight Mar 29, 2014 - Jan 3, 2017
3 United States David Branch Middleweight June 21, 2014 - Feb 6, 2017
Bulgaria Blagoy Ivanov Heavyweight June 5, 2015 - Apr 25, 2018
2 United States Jessica Aguilar Women's Strawweight Jan 18, 2014 - May 18, 2015
Brazil Rousimar Palhares Welterweight Mar 29, 2014 - Aug 4, 2015

Most wins in title bouts

The following includes all fighters with three or more championship and/or interim championship title fights. Fighters with the same number of title wins are arranged in order of most title bouts. Tournament championships are not included.

Title wins

 Champion

 Weight class

 Record in title bouts
(Win-Loss-Draw)
6 United States Justin Gaethje Lightweight 6 - 0 - 0
Brazil Marlon Moraes Bantamweight 6 - 0 - 0
United States David Branch Middleweight
Light Heavyweight
 4 - 0 - 0
2 - 0 - 0
4 Bulgaria Blagoy Ivanov Heavyweight 4 - 0 - 0
3 United States Jessica Aguilar Women's Strawweight 3 - 0 - 0
Brazil Rousimar Palhares Welterweight 3 - 0 - 0
United States Lance Palmer Featherweight 3 - 3 - 0

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Staff (2018-08-31). "Playoff matchups set for PFL's first season of $1 million winners". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2018-08-31.
  2. ^ a b c d "Fight Card - PFL 11". PFL.
  3. ^ "MMA All-time Record Holders". sportsillustrated.
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