Prime Picks: PFL 2025 World Tournament 8 | Finals

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A day before one of the roughest Ultimate Fighting Championship cards in recent memory, the Professional Fighters League will try with every fiber of its organizational being to serve as the weekend’s top dog. What comes on Friday is the first of three finals events, with the league opting to split up eight title tilts onto three shows across August. Betting lines for both events are wild, as only a few of the favored combatants on the PFL bill are any closer than -200. In this edition of Prime Picks, we weigh in on the two most significant scraps at PFL 2025 World Tournament 8 and pitch underdog success in both of them.

Fighters only get one shot! Watch the PFL World Tournament Finals LIVE Friday, Aug. 1 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN+

’DOG WILL HUNT

Logan Storley (+190)

It was admittedly slim pickings for much of the 10-fight billing in Atlantic City, New Jersey, as the card presents a slew of favored combatants who are too far out of reach. Does anyone outside of his immediate family expect that Eslam Abdul Baset Syaha will be able to lay a finger on the -1100 Jordan Newman and not just be converted into a frustrated takedown dummy for three rounds? A longtime veteran of the borderline-farcical Arabic Ultimate Fighting Championship organization, Syaha fought for the organization 10 times, with one of his outings ending by hair pilling. We aren’t making this up. Does Sergio Cossio have a snowflake’s chance in hell at upsetting two-time PFL Europe champion Jakub Kaszuba? Will anyone be throwing down their hard-earned cash on a battle of Pennsylvania’s Art of War vet Matt Turnbull against New England-based Combat Zone’s own Tom Pagliarulo, with both men making their major MMA debuts?

We turn to the main event for the best answer to a different question. Which of the 10 matchups has an underdog with the greatest likelihood of staging the upset? South Dakota’s Storley may be the one to pull it off and, in the process, strip away the 0 from the unbeaten record of Thad Jean. What makes Storley a particularly rough stylistic clash for Jean is a given: his wrestling. Put the long, rangy power striker on his back, and see what happens to his fast hands.

“Storm” has embraced the grind so fully and completely that he only has one non-injury stoppage win on his ledger dating all the way back to 2019. Jean has been tested by a few opponents who can muster up some grappling, but in terms of pure wrestling and even the kind that translates over into mixed martial arts, Storley is leagues above the previous 10 men the “Silverback” beat. It might not be pretty, but the South Dakotan is fully capable of going five rounds and not budging on his strategy. If he follows it like usual, this tournament could be his to win.

’DOG WILL HUNT

Movlid Khaybulaev (+140)

To paraphrase the great Rodney Dangerfield, Khaybulaev doesn’t get no respect. All the Dagestan native has done is practically pass every test put before him in 25 fights. He has one draw that came after nearly destroying Andre Harrison to earn a 10-8 round, along with a no contest because Daniel Pineda smoked him and then virtually melted the testing apparatus with his radioactive sample. Every other hurdle? Lance Palmer? Damon Jackson? Chris Wade? Brendan Loughnane? All cleared. This year has been no different after he took off from June 2023 to April 2025, although cracks may be starting to show in the armor of the 34-year-old.

Like Storley, the onus on the plus-money combatant will be to transform the battle into one that is horizontal in nature. If he can protect himself from the first-round firepower that Jesus Pinedo possesses, taking the steam out of the Peruvian’s punches by working him over on the mat, things edge in his favor. Grounding Pinedo and keeping him there has proven to be a tough row to hoe, as Bubba Jenkins witnessed firsthand. However, “Killer” Khaybulaev’s ground game is at another level than basically anyone else Pinedo has faced in the wild. The Russian has a habit of hearing the final bell, although if he leans towards spamming his flying knee, he could find himself in some danger. The best course of action for the man from Dagestan is to chain takedown attempts together and wearing on Pinedo against the cage or the floor, until he can manage to either generate some damage or exhaust the heavy hitter. Khaybulaev may be in the danger zone for the first 11 or 12 minutes, but his style is better suited for five rounds than his opponent’s, making him a choice underdog play.