'Gotta take this guy out': Shane Burgos' path to the PFL Playoffs

Shane Burgos does not want to be the next Rory MacDonald or Anthony Pettis. He doesn’t want to be like Thiago Santos or Krysztof Jotko. Like Burgos, all of those fighters arrived in the PFL with notable résumés built on stints in the UFC. It didn’t go so well for any of them.

MacDonald went 2-4 in two PFL seasons, and Pettis was 1-4. Santos and Jotko arrived prior to this season, and after losing their opening fights, they were among the 10 PFL fighters whose seasons ended prematurely after they tested positive for banned substances. It all adds up to a post-Octagon ouch.

Burgos is in his first PFL season and also lost his lightweight opener, but he’s still alive in the chase for a $1 million season championship. He’s hanging by a thread, though, as only the top four finishers in each weight division move on to the playoffs.

Going into Friday’s event in Atlanta (main card on ESPN and ESPN+ at 9 p.m. ET, with prelims on ESPN+ at 6 p.m.), which closes the two-bout regular season with lightweight and welterweight fights, Burgos is buried deep in the 155-pound table. He’s one of five fighters with zero points, all of them sitting below five competitors who have three points apiece.

If ever there was a time for him to live up to his nickname, “Hurricane Shane” sure could use a finish and the bonus points that would come with it.

And yet when Burgos spoke with reporters on Wednesday, there was not an ounce of trepidation in his response when he was informed that his opponent, Yamato Nishikawa, has an 85% finish rate — 14 knockouts and four submissions among his 21 wins.

“Love that!” Burgos said. “I love that he’s coming for the finish. I’m coming for the finish. We both have to get the finish.”

Burgos is not daunted by the fact that in 31 pro fights, Nishikawa has been knocked out just twice and never been submitted.

“The main thing that I think about is the fact that I basically need that ‘Quick Six,'” Burgos said, invoking PFL jargon for a first-round finish, which brings with it six points. “So his toughness is in my head. I mean, I gotta take this guy out.”

And so the drama builds.

The three June cards that wrap up the regular season in the PFL’s six weight classes are nonstop drama shows — even more so than the playoffs. Those playoffs do have high stakes. But just like in a Bellator grand prix, simply winning is enough to move on. In these second regular-season bouts, winning might not be enough.

One could reasonably argue that the second set of PFL regular-season fight cards has a level of built-in drama that’s unmatched by anything in the sport, at least in terms of its sustained suspense from the first bout of the evening until the last.

By the time Olivier Aubin-Mercier and Anthony Romero step into the cage for the lightweight main event at Overtime Elite Arena, playoff spots might be still up for grabs, with first-place Aubin-Mercier possibly needing a finish to ensure he’ll have a chance to defend the title he won last season. And by that late hour of the night, the welterweight playoff picture might have just come into focus minutes earlier.

The 170-pound standings are also clustered — just in a different way. There’s a trio of fighters at the top with six points, including 2018 season champion and 2021 finalist Magomed Magomedkerimov. Also with six points are the other Magomed, Umalatov, who made last year’s playoffs but was unable to continue because of visa issues, and Carlos Leal, who lost in last year’s semifinals to eventual champion Sadibou Sy.

Speaking of Sy, he’s right behind in the standings with five points after scoring a second-round TKO in his opening bout.

So there’s a lot of work to do for everyone below. Nayib Lopez has three points, four others have zero and one sits at minus-one after missing weight. Lopez faces Umalatov in a battle of undefeated fighters.

Drama.

The PFL recognizes the appeal of its format and makes the most of it — with the occasional misstep. Last week’s telecast trumpeted a women’s featherweight bout between another UFC import, Aspen Ladd, and Karolina Sobek as an exercise in urgency. Either fighter could clinch a playoff spot with a finish in the first two rounds, viewers were told. And as Round 2 wore on, the drama was ramped up when the telecast went to a split screen — on the left, Ladd trying desperately to secure an armbar, and on the right, Olena Kolesnyk backstage rooting for the fight to reach the third round, which would put her in the playoffs.

The drama peaked when Ladd got the finish with only three seconds remaining in Round 2. She was announced as the winner and as playoff bound.

But later in the night, without explanation, an on-screen graphic of the playoff brackets showed Kolesnyk in and Ladd out. Kolesnyk had defeated Ladd in their season opener back in April, and apparently head-to-head results are the first tiebreaker. That makes sense, of course.

On Friday, playoff spots are up for grabs in the two remaining weight classes, and even though the standings go 10 deep, every single welterweight and lightweight still has a chance to make the playoffs. That adds up to hours of high-stakes fighting, the intrigue coming at us nonstop, just as the PFL envisioned it.