The Professional Fighters League is reshuffling its deck after three fighters could not make weight Wednesday morning. Lightweights Ramsey Nijem and Carlao Silva and featherweight Gadzhi Rabadanov all did not hit their weight marks for PFL 5.
Silva weighed 159 pounds, three over the 156-pound maximum, per New Jersey State Athletic Control Board (NJSACB) counsel Nick Lembo. Rabadanov did not weigh in. Nijem attempted to weigh-in twice, but his weight was not counted, because “he would not put his full feet on the scale either time,” Lembo told ESPN.
All three will be removed from the card, which is scheduled for Thursday night in Atlantic City, N.J. Nijem and Silva are in the same division, which allows PFL to match up their scheduled opponents. So, defending lightweight champion Natan Schulte, Nijem’s original opponent, will now face Silva’s original opponent Jesse Ronson on Thursday night.
Rabadanov’s opponent Daniel Pineda, a newcomer to the league, gets three points for a walkover victory. Nijem, Silva and Rabadanov get zero points for being unable to make weight. Nijem and Rabadanov still have three points each from their first fights, so they could still earn berths into the playoffs depending on the results of PFL 5.
Nijem has not actually competed yet this season in the cage. He got his three points for a walkover win when opponent Ronys Torres failed his medicals.
Pineda is also eligible for the playoffs with his three points, despite not having fought this season.
PFL 5 is headlined by a lightweight matchup between Chris Wade and Akhmed Aliev. Coming in, Aliev leads the lightweight division with six points courtesy of a first-round win in his first fight of the season. Wade has three points.
In the co-main event, defending featherweight champion Lance Palmer faces Luis Rafael Laurentino. Laurentino has six points, good enough for second in the featherweight division. Palmer has three.