Ray Sefo
Ray Sefo: The PFL points system works and provides opportunities beyond fight night result
The Professional Fighters League is not your typical combat sports league, in fact, their slogan ‘The toughest test in MMA just got tougher’ couldn’t be more fitting. In their most recent event, the second round of the Light Heavyweight and Lightweight seasons took place in Salt Lake City, Utah. As the night progressed on, four fighters from each division punched their tickets to the 2024 PFL Playoffs, and some didn’t even get their hand raised in their respective fight on the night. PFL President Ray Sefo, in attendance on the night, took some pride in the PFL system and how it still mattered after the fights ended.
Due to the end results of their first round regular season fights, Clay Collard, Josh Silveira, and Michael Dufort all made it into the 2024 PFL Playoffs despite coming up short in their second-round fight. The enthusiasm and energy surrounding the moments for those three, specifically Dufort, who won the ‘Bud Light Celebration of the Night’ once he found out he earned his spot in the Playoffs.
𝗠𝗜𝗔𝗠𝗜 𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 🛬@MichaelDufort1 with the Celebration Of The Night#PFLRegularSeason | B2YB @budlight pic.twitter.com/OgxUFaQDVm
— PFL (@PFLMMA) June 22, 2024
It is that energy shown by Dufort that makes the PFL special and with the correct understanding of their points system that makes PFL events special compared to everywhere else in the combat sports space.
Speaking to the media after the event, Sefo spoke on how moments like those captured in Salt Lake City, prove that the points system in place does work, and there’s a greater thrill in the night not being defined by the result in the cage.
“Sometimes fighters lose and they don’t get the opportunity to come out and perform. Obviously if you lose your first fight, you lose your second then your chances of playoffs are zero. If you win your first fight and you earn high points, there’s a very high possibility depending on who comes through and who loses and who wins, that you could, like Michael Dufort, he was able to celebrate tonight because he made it to the Playoffs.”
Observing the first two rounds of the Regular Season also allowed for Sefo to send a message to every fighter who may be considering joining the PFL: things don’t end just because you lose your first regular season fight.
“That’s right, you’re not done. This is also one of the things I said in my fighter meeting after the weigh-ins. There’s still an opportunity, even a guy who has three points, you don’t know, of course you don’t wish anyone to get hurt but people do get hurt in fights, in training camps. So those three points could get them into the playoffs if somebody fell out. Again, the system works, the fighters love it, we love it. It’s important that everybody understands how the system works.”
The PFL points system does indeed work. It works so well that a fighter’s immediate future is not defined by the result inside the SmartCage. There are implications in each and every regular season fight for all competitors, and once there’s a full understanding from the audience, it’ll be hard to slow down the rapid rise that the Professional Fighters League is currently on.
