“This is going to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
That’s a sentiment one might expect from a fighter who has worked his way up from lower-tier MMA promotions and is about to debut among the sport’s elite in the UFC.
But the career journey of Shane Burgos is headed in the opposite direction.
After more than six years and 11 fights in the UFC, he signed with the PFL last summer and will make his debut on Friday, facing 2022 lightweight champion Olivier Aubin-Mercier at PFL 3 in Las Vegas (9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+, with prelims at 7 p.m. on ESPN/ESPN+).
Burgos (15-3), a career featherweight, will make his first PFL appearance in a weight class 10 pounds heavier than the division he’s called home for a decade. And he’ll be doing so against a reigning champion who looked thoroughly in control in going 4-0 last season. Those are challenges, for sure. But there are other difficulties most weighing on the mind of Burgos going into the season.
“It’s the season structure itself, man, it’s grueling,” Burgos said this week.
He already has a date for his second fight — June 23 — and if he qualifies for the playoffs, he’ll have to win two more times before the end of the year to take home one of the $1 million checks awarded to season…
