PFL have just announced the lineups for their next few events of the year and they have arranged an epic rematch between Neiman Gracie and Goiti Yamauchi for PFL 3 on April 19th, 2024. The two men are both competing for the promotion after being brought over from Bellator and that’s where they actually had their first fight back in 2022. Gracie had worked his way up to the top of the welterweight division and even challenged for the promotion’s title prior to that fight, while Yamauchi was a veteran of the Bellator lightweight division who was had recently decided to move up in weight.
Both Gracie and Yamauchi had reached the top of the sport through the use of elite grappling and they actually had 30 submission wins between them coming into their first fight. Surprisingly there was very little grappling on display in their fight and it actually ended up being decided on the feet instead. Yamauchi knocked out Gracie late in the second round to continue his successful run at welterweight, while Gracie suffered back-to-back losses for the first time in his professional career. That first fight between them was over a year ago though and both men have experienced a change of fortunes since then.
Gracie competed first at Bellator 290 where he bounced back with a decision win over Dante Schiro, while Yamauchi took on Michael ‘Venom’ Page at Bellator 292 and suffered a TKO loss. Now Neiman Gracie and Goiti Yamauchi are going to cross paths once again at PFL 3, giving both men the opportunity to improve their standings in the MMA world even further. This fight has the added benefit of forming part of the 2024 PFL welterweight season, so both men will be eager to finish the fight in order to earn as many points as possible in their quest for the $1,000,000 grand prize.
