PFL Reveals Lightweight Bracket for 2025 Europe Tournament

𝘽𝘼𝙉𝙂𝙀𝙍 𝘼𝙇𝙀𝙍𝙏! 🚨

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Gavin Hughes 🆚 Claudio Pacella 🇮🇹

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Gavin Hughes joins the PFL Europe Lightweight Roster after a long history competing at the highest level of the sport, including stints with Bellator and EFC. With ten stoppage victories on his record, Hughes… pic.twitter.com/JV67IoDmSm

— PFL Europe (@PFLEurope) March 14, 2025

The Hughes family name—no relation—will be well-represented in the Professional Fighters League’s first Europe card this year.

Per a release from the organization on Friday, the entirety of the eight-man 155-pound bracket has been revealed. The four lightweight matches plus one more at the division in a non-tournament headliner, will play out at PFL Europe 1 on May 10 inside of the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Paul Hughes, Connor Hughes and Gavin Hughes will be among the participants, of which they are not closely related.

The main attraction of this fight card will be a 155-pound scrap pitting former title challenger P. Hughes against Bruno Miranda, likely with major stakes in the PFL’s non-tourney landscape. The first of four matches in the grand prix, one that will conclude later this year, will see Decky McAleenan (9-5-1) take on Gino van Steenis (5-1). The former built himself up on the Cage Warriors Fighting Championship roster over the last five years, while the latter unsuccessfully tested the KSW waters last year.

In additional tournament tilts, Claudio Pacella (5-2) will come to blows with G. Hughes (11-4). Italy’s Pacella will be returning to the promotion after a fairly successful 2024 campaign, where he qualified for the tournament by defeating Oscar Ownsworth and Mark Ewen. “Big Tasty” briefly surfed the Bellator MMA seas, with all three of his outings there ending inside the distance. Additionally, Ewen (6-1) has reached the tourney despite his setback to G. Hughes in 2024, where he will be squaring off against previous tournament veteran Aleksandrs Chizovs (10-3). Even though Ewen suffered his first pro loss last year, a tapout of Yassin Chtatou to bounce back to the win column propelled him into this high-stakes affair. Meanwhile, Latvia native Chizovs is hoping that the third time is the charm, after coming up short in 2023 and 2024 to Acoidan Duque and Daniele Scatizzi, respectively.

Finally, 2024 lightweight finalist C. Hughes (10-2) is back and looking for vengeance, and he will be meeting Sebastian Di Franco (10-3) in the opening round. Hughes bested two foes in 2024 to get to the last match of the bracket, only to suffer a stoppage loss in the championship rounds to Jakub Kaszuba. His adversary Di Franci will be debuting in the league coming off a loss, while alternating wins and defeats in his last four.

This is one of two divisions that PFL Europe will be running this year, with men in the bantamweight division still be announced for this fight card on May 10. This is a shift from the previous seasons that held four divisions of 135, 155, 205 and women’s 125 pounds. The victor of each bracket later this year will be crowned the tournament champion, while receiving a tourney belt and a $100,000 check. Also, the winner may be eligible to join the next year’s global season.