PFL light heavyweight champion Antonio Carlos Junior is no longer in the running for $1 million in 2022.
The company announced Friday, that “Cara de Sapato”, the semi-final bout against Omari Akhmedov was canceled. The fight had been scheduled for PFL 7 Aug. 5 in New York’s Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden. Carlos Junior will be replaced by Josh Silveira. All three fighters are members of American Top Team in Florida.
MMA Fighting learned from Carlos Junior that he has sustained an ACL injury and will need surgery. He will be out of action for the remainder of the year.
Conan Silveira’s son is ATT head coach. He is 9-0 as a pro and a former LFA two-division champion. The 29-year-old prospect has won two in a row since joining the PFL, stopping Mohamed Juma and Marthin Hamlet.
Akhmedov (23-7-1) is a longtime veteran of the UFC who was victorious in his past two fights, finishing Viktor Pesta and Teodoras Aukstuolis. He also has victories over Tim Boetsch, Ian Heinisch, and Marvin Vettori.
Rob Wilkinson will face Delan Monte in the other semifinal fight for light heavyweight.
PFL 7 will also crown the lightweight finalists, with former UFC and WEC champion Anthony Pettis competing with Stevie Ray for one of the spots to battle the winner of Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Alexander Martinez.
