On Wednesday, the PFL announced that they had signed a whopping18 new athletes to bolster their growing roster.
The Professional Fighter’s League announced that they have added a whopping twenty new athletes to their roster ahead of their summer series that will span across six events between June and August. The list features fighters from across the globe with veterans who have experience in Dana White’s Contender Series, Cage Warriors, and more.
Lors de son dernier combat, il s’était fait étrangler par Javid Basharat (🇦🇫) après l’avoir traité de « terroriste » à la pesée. pic.twitter.com/jzVLJ3ux6U
— MMA TIME (@MMA__TIME) November 23, 2023
Amongst the notables is bantamweight Javid Basharat, the brother of undefeated UFC contender Farid Basharat. Basharat is a UFC veteran himself who left the promotion after a 3-2-1 run that saw him enter the company through DWCS in 2021 where he won a contract in his second appearance on the program. Recently, Basharat was not re-signed following a victory over new signee Gianni Vazquez in February. Prior to that, “The Snow Leopard” had lost to longtime veteran Ricky Simon and current top contender Aiemann Zahabi.
Another major signing for the company comes in the form of Leon Hill of Ireland. The 30 year-old welterweight boasts a 10-2 record and enters the PFL on a four fight win-streak. “The Professional” has been building experience recently under the Cage Warriors banner where his last seven fights have been with the company. He last fought in February where he scored a second round finish.
The women’s divisions will also be adding depth as it was announced that they had also signed Combate Global veteran Lucero “Loba” Acosta. The Mexican prospect with a 6-2 developed as a professional from the ground up by Combate Global as she fought her lone amateur fight with the company back in 2019 and all her subsequent fights as a pro came under the banner. Outside of the cage, Acosta brings a strong online presence with 480k followers on Instagram. Acosta last fought in April of 2025.
No bouts for the new signees have ben announced yet but it is expected that they will come soon as more events continue to be made official in the coming months.
The complete list of signees is as follows:
- Leon “The Hitman” Hill (10-2), Ireland, Welterweight, 30yo
- Lucero “La Loba” Acosta (6-2), Mexico, Flyweight, 31yo
- Moustapha Diakhaté (5-0-1), Senegal/Belgium, Light Heavyweight, 25yo
- Valeria “Foxy” Ramirez (10-1), Argentina, Strawweight, 26yo
- Cassio Barao (10-1-1), Brazil, Lightweight, 30yo
- Javid “The Snow Leopard” Basharat (15-2-0, 1 NC), Afghanistan/England, Bantamweight, 30yo
- Roland “The Dream” Dunlap (7-0), Wisconsin U.S., Light Heavyweight, 33yo
- Avery Guidebeck (3-0), Iowa U.S., Lightweight, 19yo
- Ilian “The Gorilla” Bouafia (8-1), France, Middleweight, 29yo
- Trukon “The Carolina Gamedog” Carson (6-1), North Carolina U.S, Welterweight,
- Brandon “Snatch” Brachet (9-1), France, Lightweight, 21yo
- “Mad” Max Metzgar (6-0), Illinois U.S., Lightweight, 29yo
- Daniel “Soncora” Marcos (18-1, 1 NC), Peru, Bantamweight, 33yo
- Hasan Mezhiev (14-0), Latvia, Heavyweight, 33yo
- Jonathan “War Hawk” Piersma (12-3), New York U.S., Welterweight, 30yo
- Marina “Armata” Merchuk (7-2), Russia, Strawweight, 30yo
- Felipe “Capanema” Oliveira (8-1), Brazil, Featherweight, 22yo
- Zacharia “Zach” Nishimwe (4-0), Burundi, Light Heavyweight, 24yo