PFL featherweight rankings: McKee leads, unbeaten Khizriev is second

A. J. McKee leads the PFL featherweight rankings at 34-3-0, but the fighter right behind him has never lost. Timur Khizriev is 19-0-0 and added a split decision over fellow top-five featherweight Gabriel Braga on 16 October at PFL Chicago.

PFL featherweight rankings

McKee, 31, from the United States, has the longest record at the top and a finish rate of 56 percent. Khizriev, 30, sits second. Jesus Pinedo, 30, of Peru, is third at 26-8-1, Salamat Isbulaev fourth and Gabriel Braga fifth.

Rank	Fighter	Record
1	A. J. McKee	34-3-0
2	Timur Khizriev	19-0-0
3	Jesus Pinedo	26-8-1
4	Salamat Isbulaev	10-1-0
5	Gabriel Braga	10-2-0
6	Ibragim Ibragimov	4-1-0
7	Ádám Borics	20-4-0
8	Asaël Adjoudj	11-1-0
9	Alexei Pergande	8-0-0
10	Khasan Magomedsharipov	11-0-0

The bottom half is the most interesting part of the list. Three of the last four names are unbeaten or close to it: Pergande is 8-0-0 at 25, Magomedsharipov is 11-0-0 at 26, and Adjoudj is 11-1-0 at 27. Ibragimov, at 4-1-0, is the thinnest résumé on the board.

Khizriev, Pinedo and Isbulaev: three ways to win

The top of the division is not one type of fighter.

Khizriev is the grinder. His finish rate is 21 percent, so most of his 19 wins go to the judges, and his latest fits that pattern: three full rounds against Braga, decided on a split card. An unbeaten record built this way is hard to attack, but it also leaves little margin when a scorecard goes the other way.

Pinedo is the opposite. His finish rate is 81 percent, and on 18 July at PFL Austin he stopped Joey Ruquet with ground and pound in round 1, at 4:40. Isbulaev goes further still: 100 percent, with every one of his 10 wins ending before the final bell. His one loss is the only blemish on a 10-1-0 record, and he is 29.

Braga, at 10-2-0 and 28, finishes half of his wins, which puts him between those poles.

PFL featherweight results from the last 12 months

The division has produced 29 bouts in the past year, and 12 of them ended in a finish. The stoppages came in all shapes:

• Khasan Magomedsharipov submitted Joshua Weems with an arm triangle in round 1, at 2:10, on 27 June in San Diego.
• Jackson Glass beat Zak Flessas by TKO from elbows in 47 seconds on 18 July in Austin.
• Elias Boudegzdame caught Hussein Salem in a triangle choke at 2:55 of round 1 at PFL MENA 10 on 10 July.
• Noah Hermosillo stopped Caden Cox with punches at 1:43 of round 3 on 16 October in Chicago, after winning a unanimous decision over Jacob Pais on 25 July.

The decisions matter as much. Julio Arce took a unanimous decision over Caolán Loughran in Austin, Cheyden Leialoha beat Robbie Ring on all three cards in Charlotte on 7 August, and Yanis Ghemmouri outpointed Taha Bendaoud unanimously at PFL Africa 3 on 10 October.

Next PFL featherweight fights

Two ranked fighters are booked on 14 November at PFL Dubai: Nemkov vs. Bilostenniy.

Magomedsharipov, 11-0-0 and ranked tenth, faces Ádám Borics, seventh at 20-4-0 and 33 years old. It is the clearest test on the card of an unbeaten fighter against a veteran with a long record behind him. Adjoudj, 11-1-0, meets Movlid Khaybulaev on the same card.

A win for Magomedsharipov over Borics would be a win over the seventh-ranked featherweight; a win for Borics would end the unbeaten record at the bottom of the top ten.