AJ McKee faces Salamat Isbulaev on June 27 in San Diego

PFL has announced a matchup between AJ McKee (24-2, ranked #2) and Salamat Isbulaev (10-0, ranked #6) for June 27 in San Diego. Isbulaev made his PFL debut against the #3-ranked Jesus Pinedo, finishing him in the first round but was only ranked #6 afterward. Now he faces former Bellator champion McKee, one of PFL's strongest fighters overall. The post questions PFL's matchmaking strategy, noting that Isbulaev is being given a very difficult path to the title without any easier fights to build him up, and expressing confusion about why he remains ranked #6 rather than moving up to #3 after his impressive debut.