After 4 glorious fights, it’s contract time at Week 1 of the PFL Challenger Series!  Kendly St. Louis, Zach Juusola, Thad Jean, and Itso Babulaidze all won their bouts tonight and now the fans and the celebrity panel will vote to decide who gets a PFL contract for the 2023 Regular Season!

First, 4 has to become 2, and Thad Jean will be the first fighter selected to move to the final 2!  After a brief moment of suspense, Kendly St. Louis is announced as the 2nd finalist for a contract. Fans will now vote to decide who wins a PFL contract! If the fans agree with the celebrity panel, that fighter will be selected.  If the celebrity panel and fans disagree, the tie breaking vote will go to President of Fighter Operations Ray Sefo.

Thad Jean put on an incredible striking performance against a former high level regional champion in Eric Alequin, accumulating 2 knockdowns and some more heavy damage over 3 rounds to punch his ticket to the finals tonight.

Meanwhile, Kendly St. Louis accepted a catchweight bout on under 24 hours notice and was the only fighter to finish his fight this week.  St. Louis has really turned his career around nicely, winning five straight to improve to 8-4 after a 3-4 start to his professional fighting campaign.

After much deliberation and drama, we’re off to the celebrity panel! Tyron Woodley and Ray Lewis both seem impressed by Kendly St. Louis’ performance on short notice.  Wiz Khalifa concurs but we have a curveball as Ray Lewis announces the celebrity panel votes for Thad Jean.  Oh my! With 51% of the vote, Kendly St. Louis wins the fan vote!

We now go to Ray Sefo to break the tie and award a PFL contract!  After all the consideration, Ray Sefo announces that the winner of the PFL Regular Season contract for Week 1 of Challenger Series will be…  Thad Jean! Welcome to the PFL Welterweight Season Thad!