PFL 2025 World Tournament One to Watch: Gabriel Braga

The Professional Fighters League 2025 World Tournament semifinals kick off with the featherweight bracket, co-headlined by a trilogy match between former champion Jesus Pinedo and former title challenger Gabriel Braga. After winning the PFL featherweight season championship over Braga in 2023, Pinedo was out for all of last season, but came back in a big way this year, finishing Adam Borics in the quarterfinals with a first-round TKO.

Braga is coming off his own first-round finish, submitting Frederik Dupras with neck crank in their quarterfinal matchup. The 27-year-old Brazilian is a very respectable 8-2 in the PFL, and as he seeks to settle the score with his longtime bitter rival, Braga is one to watch heading into 2025 PFL World Tournament 5: Semifinals on Thursday in Nashville.

Fighters only get one shot! Watch the Semifinals of the PFL World Tournament LIVE Thursday, June 12 at 11 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN+

The intensity of the rivalry between Braga and Pinedo has been well documented and is sure to grow further as they compete for a chance at the first-ever PFL tournament championship. Having won four of his last five fights including three by finish, Braga is one of the most dangerous fighters in the organization and while his victory over Pinedo came by decision, he’ll be looking to close the trilogy with an emphatic finish to put himself in the championship.

Nearly half of Braga’s career victories have come by KO or TKO, and while his power is quite impressive, what he did to open the world tournament this year could be even more impressive. Against Dupras in the first round, Braga picked up his first career submission victory. Having shown he has elevated his game to another level, Braga further cemented himself not only as a dangerous contender in this tournament, but as one of the top fighters in the organization.

While he may have been overshadowed in the past because of Pinedo, Braga continues to force attention onto himself through his standout performances. The biggest area of concern coming into the trilogy will be Braga on the scale, as he has struggled making weight in the past. If he makes the weight, Braga and Pinedo are sure to deliver another classic fight, and the winner of this fight will likely catapult himself into being the favorite in the championship fight against the winner of the Movlid Khaybulaev-Tae Kyun Kim semifinal.

Braga has always been very good, very talented in all aspects of the fight game, but the weight cut has been his biggest enemy. There is no denying that both Pinedo and Braga are the headliners of the remaining featherweight tournament bracket, but Braga has plenty to prove, not only to himself, the scale, and the fans, but to his opponent and his promotion, as he looks to become a PFL champion for the first time.