Professional Fighters League is making its first trip to the
city discovered by the Germans in 1904, one named after a whale’s
[redacted].
Initially claimed by Spain in the 1500s with a mission built there
in the 1700s, the Californian city was admitted along with the rest
of the state to the U.S. in 1850. That would San Diego, the staging
ground of the PFL card on June 27. Fights will play out inside of
the Pechanga Arena in the organization’s first jaunt to California
since PFL 9 2018. The promotion confirmed
this date for the first June date it has marked on the calendar, as
well as one fight on its billing.
Serving in the main attraction of
PFL San Diego is a potential featherweight title eliminator—the
division has no champion, so the victor may be in line for the next
crack at gold. Former Bellator MMA champ A.J. McKee
(24-2) will collide with Salamat
Isbulaev (10-0) in their three-round main attraction.
Home grown vs. hired help
When combining that of PFL and parent company Bellator, McKee has a
wealth of experience over foe Isbulaev. All 26 of McKee’s pro
outing have come with one brand or the other, a sharp contract to
Kazakhstan-repping Isbulaev. The latter made his organizational
debut in February, forcing highly regarded Jesus
Pinedo to tap to strikes at the end of the first round.
McKee’s lone two pro losses came on the scorecards to Patricio
Freire and Paul Hughes
in 2022 and 2024, respectively. In that same stretch of time, “The
Mercenary” has bested names including Adam
Borics, Clay
Collard, Akhmed
Magomedov and Roberto
Satoshi de Souza.
Opponent Isbulaev has not only never lost, but he has only gone to
a second round once in his professional career. He otherwise sports
nine first-round stoppages—with a nearly even distribution of
knockouts to tapouts. On the other side of the equation, McKee has
entered Round 2 or later in all but one of his last eight
bouts.
𝗦𝗔𝗡 𝗗𝗜𝗘𝗚𝗢 ‼️𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗬 ❗️
The “Mercenary” @ajmckee101
returns against undefeated Salamat Isbulaev in a huge Featherweight
Main Event set to go down at the @PechangaArenaSD
on Saturday, June 27thSign up to get access for the
#PFLSanDiego Pre-Sale now. The… pic.twitter.com/7p5MVR813t— PFL (@PFLMMA)
April 23, 2026