Thad Jean continues to live up to the hype, as he scored a unanimous decision over Logan Storley in the main event of the PFL World Tournament card in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to capture the 2025 PFL Welterweight World Tournament title.
Jean controlled much of the early action with superior striking and stuffing most of Storley’s takedown attempts. Jean also rocked Storley in the first round with crisp counters, and he nearly finished the fight in round two after a vicious head kick.
Storley’s grappling skillset and takedowns made their presence more felt in the middle rounds of the belt. Storley gained control positions, though Jean usually was able to escape and continued his effective striking, doing some damage on Storley. Jean’s pace, however, slowed later on, though he continued to have a decent output.
Jean went on to score the unanimous decision with a pair of 49-46 scores and a 48-47.
Thad Jean Wins 2025 PFL Welterweight World Tournament
For a mostly one-sided contest that was a really entertaining fight. And a reminder Thad Jean wasn’t even supposed to be in this tournament. What an incredible breakthrough year.
After winning a PFL contract on the PFL Challenger Series and victories in a few showcase bouts, Jean entered the 2025 welterweight tournament and reached the finals with wins over Mukhamed Berkhamov and former Bellator welterweight champion Jason Jackson.
Storley, the former interim Bellator welterweight champion, reached the finals with wins over Joseph Luciano and Masayuki Kikuiri.
The first of three events to mark the conclusion of the PFL’s 2025 World Tournaments goes down in Atlantic City, New Jersey tonight — and MMA News has you covered with all the action.
The World Tournament is the spiritual successor to the season-and-the-playoffs has had since its inaugural season in 2018. As part of the changes in format to the PFL upon the official folding of the Bellator brand earlier this year, the PFL changed its global season to a single-elimination tournament format, adding more weight classes, eight fighters per weight class.
First-round action took place in April and May, with June — previously hosting the second leg of the regular season — hosting semifinal action. This month will see the conclusion of these tournaments, with eight winners receiving PFL World Tournament title belts and $100,000.
This evening will be headlined by the welterweight tournament final that sees undefeated rising star Thad Jean taking on former interim Bellator welterweight champion Logan Storley. Jean made it to the finals through a first-round knockout of Mukhamed Berkhamov and a split decision win over former Bellator welterweight champion Jason Jackson. Storley, meanwhile, scored a pair of decision wins over Joseph Luciano and Masayuki Kikuiri.
The co-main event will be the featherweight tournament final that features a pair of former champions — 2021 PFL featherweight champion Movlid Khaybulaev and 2023 PFL featherweight champion Jesus Pinedo. The unbeaten Khaybulaev reached the finals with decision wins over Jeremy Kennedy and Kim Tae-kyun. Pinedo, meanwhile, scored finishes of Adam Borics and Gabriel Braga (the latter being a trilogy bout between the two).
2025 PFL World Tournament Week 8 Results & Highlights
Main Card:
Welterweight Final: Thad Jean def. Logan Storley via unanimous decision (49-46 x2, 48-47)
Featherweight Final: Movlid Khaybulaev def. Jesus Pinedo via submission (arm-triangle choke) (R5, 1:17)
Featherweight: Asael Adjoudj def. Yves Landu via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
Middleweight: Jordan Newman def. Eslam Baset via TKO (fighter retirement) (R1, 5:00)
Preliminary Card:
Catchweight (160 lbs): Jakub Kaszuba def. Sergio Cossio via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
Thad Jean will test skills against Logan Storley for the welterweight tournament championship at PFL World Tournament 8 on August 1st. Jean appeared on Bowks Talking Bouts and when asked about the momentum of beating a former champion in former Bellator MMA titleholder Jason Jackson to punch his ticket for this PFL title bid, Jean said,
“Yeah, exactly that. I mean, I wish the fight would have been me versus Jason Jackson for the finals actually. That would have been such a fun fight. But I’m cool with whatever I get because at the end of the day since the beginning of the year I’ve been saying that, I’ve been praying that in the name of Jesus that I would be the PFL welterweight 2025 tournament champion.”
“Before I was even called up as an alternate. So this all just is something that’s falling into place. I’m just coming here to collect what’s mine and everything that comes with it is just an added bonus, a side quest. Which is really fun to do and I like playing games. So I love doing side quests [laughs].”
While Jason Jackson is also a teammate of Storley’s at Kill Cliff FC, ‘The Silverback’ does not put much stock into the idea that Jackson can impart his anecdotal experience fighting Jean to Storley that will meaningfully inform this fight.
Thad Jean thinks Logan Storley is not ‘there yet’, sees first round finish
Thad Jean mentioned being into playing games earlier and also has an affinity for anime. The arc of an anime hero typically sees that figure face incrementally stronger adversaries as time goes on and when asked if Storley fits with that kind of anime narrative progression in his PFL Smart Cage journey, Jean stated,
“No. No, not at all. I don’t think Logan is there yet, you know. I feel like if Logan was on my side of the bracket, he wouldn’t be in the finals. Does that make sense to you? I feel like if I was where Logan was and Logan was where I was, I would have been in the finals still and he would not have, you know. I had the harder side of the bracket. He won against good opponents but I would say none on the level that my side were on or that I am on or one that he’s on.”
The unbeaten pro MMA fighter mentioned seeing Logan Storley as a one-dimensional fighter with a singular wrestling focus, also mentioning instances of seeing fatigue set in within Storley’s heavy wrestling approach at key junctures in the fight and how Jean plays that into his perceived path to victory. As far as what the headlines will read after the dust settles on this PFL welterweight tournament championship outing, Jean quipped,
“Haitian representative Thad Jean, Thad ‘The Silverback’ Jean, TKO’s, knocks out Logan Storley in the first round. Gaining himself his first world MMA title, becoming the 2025 PFL welterweight tournament champion. Solidifying his position as one of the top welterweights. I think that’s what it’s going to say. I know it’s going to say something like this [laughs].”
History will be made in Atlantic City!
The 2025 PFL Welterweight Tournament Champion will be crowned on August 1st! 🏆
The rise of the “Silverback” continues, as Thad Jean edged out former Bellator welterweight champion Jason Jackson in a split decision in the main event of the PFL World Tournament semifinals event in Nashville.
As a result of his win, Jean will now meet former interim Bellator welterweight champion Logan Storley in the PFL welterweight World Tournament finals.
It was a back-and-forth encounter, with Jackson relying on his wrestling and clinch control. He landed multiple takedowns throughout the fight, pressing Jean against the fence. Jean, however, responded with some crisp striking, including a knockdown from a jab in the opening seconds of the fight.
Jean also made use of sharp counterstriking and did damage to the body in the later frames of the fight. While both men had their moments, it was Jean’s cleaner shots and timely reversals that most likely helped him earn the nod.
One judge each scored the bout 29-28 for a fighter, while the third had Jean winning all three rounds to seal the split decision in his favor.
Thad Jean Edges Out Jason Jackson To Earn Final Spot In Welterweight PFL World Tournament
Huge win for Thad Jean over Jason Jackson. Mans got serious power. Gonna have to drill that takedown defence ahead of the Logan Storley finale fight. #PFLWorldTournament
Jason Jackson was the last Bellator champ and beat 27-0 Yaroslav Amasov to win the belt. Thad just beat him at 9-0. Thad Jean is legit and has legit star potential.
As Jason Jackson was bouncing around expecting to win that, PFL knowing Thad Jean is a potential star in the making—that was a very predictable questionable decision.
Jean, an alumnus of the PFL Challenger Series from 2023, is now 10-0 in MMA, including a now 5-0 PFL record with three finishes in the PFL cage.
Jackson has now lost two of his last three. His April first-round win over Andrey Koreshkov had been a rebound after dropping his welterweight title last year to Ramazan Kuramagomedov.
