2024 PFL World Championship Predictions: $1M Prize up for Grabs (Nov 29)

Our 2024 PFL 10 predictions are what you can find in this preview post. We’re going to dissect the biggest Professional Fighters League matchups scheduled for Friday, November 29, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

We’ll analyze the PFL odds, compare the fighters, and share our predictions for who’s going to win the $1 million prize.

Brendan Loughnane to Add Another Million to His Bank Account

The winner of every PFL tournament gets a $1 million prize from the organization, and Brendan Loughnane has already received it once. It happened two years ago when we saw the Manchester-based fighter win the PFL Featherweight tournament by beating Bubba Jenkins by a TKO.

His 2023 campaign was cut short by Jesus Pinedo who KO-ed him in Round 1, but he’s bounced back since. In fact, he’s 3-0 in 2024, winning two of those by a TKO. In his most recent fight – the 2024 PFL Featherweight semifinal – he beat Kai Kamaka III by a split decision.

Admittedly, it wasn’t his best performance, but he showed he can win even when he’s not in the best mood for fighting. That’s actually what gives us a lot of confidence that he’ll beat Timur Khizriev in the $1M fight on November 29.

Khizriev is looking like the next big thing in the PFL given his 17-0 record, but we don’t think he’s as good as the Englishman.

Dakota Ditcheva’s Moment of Truth

Dakota Ditcheva is an exciting fighter with a 13-0 record in MMA (11 knockouts, 1 submission, and 1 decision win) and a Muay Thai record of 9-1.

She’s only 26, with the future looking great for her. But is she ready for the big leap forward? We’ll find out on November 29 when she fights former UFC star, Talia Santos.

Santos is 22-3 overall with all of her losses happening by decision. And one of those was a split-decision loss in the title fight against Valentina Shevchenko. Since moving to the PFL, she’s 3-0 with her most recent win happening against legendary Liz Carmouche.

Obviously, she’s an incredible fighter, but we still think she’s going to lose to Ditcheva. Why? Because both are Muay Thai fighters who prefer fighting upright. If this turns into a striking duel, Ditcheva will win easily.

Impa Kasanganay’s Cinderella Story Continues

In the MMA universe, Impa Kasanganay is best known for being on the wrong end of one of the most spectacular knockouts in history. He got flatlined by Joaquin Buckley in 2020, but he’s managed to bounce back after the humiliating loss.

Since moving to the PFL in 2023, he’s 8-1, with his only loss happening by a split decision against Johnny Eblen in the PFL vs. Bellator Champions event last February. He got to fight the Bellator champ after winning the 2023 PFL Light Heavyweight tournament.

Can he do the same thing again this year? We think he can. He needs to be careful, though, as his opponent Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov has the nuclear option in his fists. He’s a former heavyweight fighter who’ll almost certainly look to knock Impa out.

But we think Impa’s learned his lesson. Instead of rushing, he’s going to fight carefully, aiming to tire out his five years older opponent.

Denis Goltsov to Prove He’s the Real Deal

Denis Goltsov is just two years older than his PFL 10 opponent Oleg Popov, but he’s fought more than twice as many professional MMA fights as him. Plus, the 34-year-old also competed in Combat Samo, in which he won the World Gold on two occasions.

Goltsov’s MMA record is 35-8, with most of his losses happening against really nasty opponents. His most recent defeat happened against Renan Ferreira in the final of last year’s PFL Heavyweight tournament.

Before that, we saw him lose to Ante Delija in 2021, a big Croatian guy who went on to win the $1 million prize that year.

He also lost to Ali Isaev in the semifinal of the 2019 PFL tournament. The fight happened just a few hours after he went to a 15-minute war with legendary Japanese-Croatian judoka Satoshi Ishii.

Given that his portfolio is so impressive, it’s really a surprise that Goltsov isn’t a bigger name in the MMA world. Well, we think he might become a superstar if he beats Popov at PFL 10.

If he does it, not only will he win the million-dollar prize, but he could even get to fight the legendary Francis Ngannou in a future PFL x Bellator event.

2024 PFL 10 Predictions for Remaining Fights

• Shamil Musaev vs. Magomed Umalatov – Magomed Umalatov
• Brent Primus vs. Gadzhi Rabadanov – Gadzhi Rabadanov
• Abdalrahman Alhyasat vs. Abdullah Al-Qahtani
• Mohammad Alaqraa vs. Omar El Dafrawy
• Hattan Alsaif vs. Lilya Osmani
• Ali Taleb vs. Rachid Haz
• Mohsen Mohammadseifi vs. Georges Eid
• Mansour Barnaoui vs. Alfie Davis
• Slim Trabelsi vs. Abraham Bably
• Jesus Pinedo vs. Jeremy Kennedy
• Asaël Adjoudj vs. Jose Perez
• Costello van Steenis vs. João Vitor Dantas

Shamil Musaev has 17 wins and one draw, with zero losses; his opponent Magomed Umalatov is 17-0. Anything can happen in this fight, but we think Umalatov is a slightly better fighter. We think he’s going to win, although we can’t say we’re 100% convinced it’s actually going to happen.

For all the other fights, we’re pretty sure favorites will win easily. Gadzhi Rabadanov, for example, is someone who we think will smash his opponent in the first round. We also expect Mohsen Mohammadseifi to produce a KO win, and the same goes for Jesus Pinedo.

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