Past lightweight title challengers meet at PFL San Diego

SAN DIEGO, CA - SEPTEMBER 07: Alexander Shabliy throws a punch against Usman Nurmagomedov during Bellator Champions Series: San Diego at the Pechanga Arena on September 7, 2024 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images) | Getty Images A pair of past lightweight title challengers have been booked for PFL San Diego as Alexandr Shabliy takes on Alfie Davis on June 27 at Pechanga Arena. PFL officials confirmed the fight to MMA Fighting on Thursday.

Shabliy returns to action for the first time since he dropped a unanimous decision to reigning PFL lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov back in September 2024. He was originally scheduled to join the PFL lightweight tournament in 2025, but was knocked out of his fight and later faced a six-month suspension from the United States Anti-Doping Agency after testing positive for recombinant erythropoietin (rEPO) in an out-of-competition test. Now Shabliy looks to get back on track when he returns to action in June.

As for Davis, he also makes his first appearance since falling to Nurmagomedov back in February when the undefeated Russian put him away with a reverse arm-triangle choke in the third round of their title fight. That loss stopped Davis’ three-fight winning streak, a run that earned him the title shot after taking out Clay Collard, Brent Primus, and Gadzhi Rabadanov in consecutive fights. The lightweight matchup joins a growing card headed to San Diego with the main event set as A.

J. McKee faces Salamat Isbulaev at featherweight, while Liz Carmouche battles Viviane Araujo in the flyweight co-main event.