Kayla Harrison, Magomed Magomedkerimov booked for PFL 15 bouts
Professional Fighters League stars Kayla Harrison and Magomed Magomedkerimov have their next fights set.
MMA Fighting confirmed with officials that Magomedkerimov (24-5) will meet Chris Curtis (21-5) in the welterweight main event of PFL 15, while Harrison (4-0) fights Morgan Frier (4-2) in the lightweight co-main event.
ESPN was first to report the news as well as the updated lineup for PFL 15.
Playoff qualification and seeding for the 2019 PFL postseason will be determined following the July 11 show.
Also added to the card were a welterweight bout between Ray Cooper III (18-6) and John Howard (27-15-1), and a lightweight bout between Sarah Kaufman (21-4, 1 NC) and Roberta Samad (5-1).
Magomedkerimov is the reigning PFL 2018 champion having won last season’s tournament and million dollar prize. He opened up the 2019 regular season with a first-round guillotine choke submission of Howard at PFL 12, his ninth consecutive win.
Curtis also had a successful start to the season, defeating Andre Fialho by third-round TKO at PFL 12 in what was Curtis’s league debut. The 10-year veteran ended a brief retirement earlier this year after a win on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series last year failed to yield a UFC contract.
Harrison, the only two-time Olympic gold medalist in the history of U.S. judo, stayed unbeaten as a pro fighter by outpointing Larissa Pacheco at PFL 12, the first decision win of Harrison’s brief career. She faces Frier, who is coming off a first-round submission loss to Kaufman.
Cooper was breakout fighter of the PFL welterweight division, defeating Jake Shields twice in the 2018 season and making it to the tournament finals where he fell to Magomedkerimov by second-round submission.
Kaufman has won four straight since parting ways with the UFC in 2015, including a win over Katharina Lehner at Invicta FC 29 that earned her a vacant interim bantamweight title.
PFL 15 takes place on July 11 at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J. The card will air live on ESPN+ and ESPN2.