PFL 2023, Week 1 predictions: Check out our three unanimous picks to open the season

Matt Erickson
·3 min read

Loughnane
vs.
Moraes

Santos
vs.
Wilkinson

Fleury
vs.
Jotko

Khayvulaev
vs.
Kudo

Jenkins
vs.
Wade

MMA Junkie readers’
consensus picks
35-24

loughnane2023


Loughnane
(88%)

wilkinson2023


Wilkinson
(56%)

jotko2023


Jotko
(88%)

khaybulaev2023


Khaybulaev
(88%)

wade2023


Wade
(61%)

Matt Erickson
@MattE
37-22

loughnane2023


Loughnane

santos2023


Santos

jotko2023


Jotko

khaybulaev2023


Khaybulaev

wade2023


Wade

Nolan King
@mma_kings
37-22

loughnane2023


Loughnane

wilkinson2023


Wilkinson

jotko2023


Jotko

khaybulaev2023


Khaybulaev

wade2023


Wade

George Garcia
@MMAjunkieGeorge
37-22

loughnane2023


Loughnane

wilkinson2023


Wilkinson

jotko2023


Jotko

khaybulaev2023


Khaybulaev

wade2023


Wade

Simon Samano
@SJSamano
35-24

loughnane2023


Loughnane

wilkinson2023


Wilkinson

jotko2023


Jotko

khaybulaev2023


Khaybulaev

wade2023


Wade

Abbey Subhan
@kammakaze
34-25

loughnane2023


Loughnane

wilkinson2023


Wilkinson

jotko2023


Jotko

khaybulaev2023


Khaybulaev

jenkins2023


Jenkins

Farah Hannoun
@Farah_Hannoun
34-25

loughnane2023


Loughnane

wilkinson2023


Wilkinson

jotko2023


Jotko

khaybulaev2023


Khaybulaev

wade2023


Wade

Ken Hathaway
@kenshathaway
33-26

trophy copy

2018, 2022 Champion

loughnane2023


Loughnane

wilkinson2023


Wilkinson

jotko2023


Jotko

khaybulaev2023


Khaybulaev

jenkins2023


Jenkins

Matthew Wells
@MrMWells
33-26

loughnane2023


Loughnane

wilkinson2023


Wilkinson

jotko2023


Jotko

khaybulaev2023


Khaybulaev

jenkins2023


Jenkins

Mike Bohn
@MikeBohn
32-27

trophy copy

2014 Champion

loughnane2023


Loughnane

santos2023


Santos

jotko2023


Jotko

khaybulaev2023


Khaybulaev

wade2023


Wade

Danny Segura
@dannyseguratv
32-27

loughnane2023


Loughnane

santos2023


Santos

jotko2023


Jotko

khaybulaev2023


Khaybulaev

wade2023


Wade

Brian Garcia
@thegoze
31-28

trophy copy

2017 Champion

loughnane2023


Loughnane

wilkinson2023


Wilkinson

jotko2023


Jotko

khaybulaev2023


Khaybulaev

jenkins2023


Jenkins

The PFL is back for its 2023 regular season, and featherweights and light heavyweights are up first.

PFL 2023, Week 1 takes place Saturday at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas. The main card airs on ESPN following prelims on ESPN+.

(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)

In the main event, 2022 featherweight season winner Brendan Loughnane (26-4) takes on Marlon Moraes (23-11-1), a former WSOF bantamweight champion and ex-UFC interim title challenger who has fallen on rough times with five straight losses, including in his PFL debut this past November. Loughnane is the biggest favorite on the card at -750 at BetMGM; the comeback on Moraes is +500. Not surprisingly, our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers have Loughnane as one of three unanimous picks on the main card.

The co-main event also features a former UFC title challenger in Thiago Santos (22-11), who takes on 2022 light heavyweight season winner Rob Wilkinson (17-2), who has six straight wins by stoppage. Wilkinson is a 2-1 favorite at the betting window, and he has a big 8-3 lead in the picks from our staff members.

Also on the main card, Krzysztof Jotko (24-6) will fight outside the UFC for the first time in nearly 10 years when he steps in on short notice to take on Will Fleury (11-3) at light heavyweight. Jotko, who is moving up after years at middleweight, is a -250 favorite and the second of our unanimous picks at 11-0.

Our third unanimous pick is Movlid Khaybulaev (19-0-1), who is a 7-1 favorite in his featherweight season opener against Ryoji Kudo (11-4-1). Khaybulaev won the 2021 featherweight season, but was out of action all of 2022.

And to open the main card, the man Loughnane beat this past November to win the $1 million featherweight season, Bubba Jenkins (19-6), returns to take on 2021 finalist Chris Wade (22-8). Wade is a slight favorite at -175, and he has the narrowest possible edge in the picks at 6-5.

In the MMA Junkie consensus picks, Loughnane (82 percent), Wilkinson (56 percent), Jotko (88 percent), Khaybulaev (88 percent) and Wade (61 percent) are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL 2023, Week 1.

Story originally appeared on MMA Junkie

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