MMA fighter Grant Dawson voiced his displeasure over the Professional Fighters League (PFL) decision to suspend his teammates Natan Schulte and Raush Manfio for a lackluster fight, sparking major changes for the 2023 PFL playoffs.
Grant Dawson felt disheartened when he saw his American Top Team teammates, Natan Schulte and Raush Manfio, getting penalized by the PFL for their uninspiring performance. He believed this outcome led to significant adjustments in the forthcoming 2023 PFL playoffs. The controversial judgment was delivered on a previous Saturday. The sanction was prompted by Schulte’s victory over Manfio, a unanimously-decided win at PFL 6. Positioned for the playoffs before the penalty, Schulte had dismissed ex-UFC contender Shane Burgos from the tournament.
Schulte and Manfio’s close friendship and training partnership is well known. Both fighters seemed less than thrilled about being compelled to compete against each other, especially considering their identical placement of 1-0 in the season’s standings at that time. Meanwhile, Burgos, after experiencing a setback in his PFL debut, did not go against either Schulte or Manfio. Instead, he faced Yamato Nishikawa, another fighter who had a loss in his initial PFL season match-up. Dawson struggled to make sense of these actions.
“That’s a boycott PFL situation,” Dawson explained, “Because that makes no sense. They’re two former champions, they’re two former tournament winners, and so for them to fight not even in the tournament, it makes no sense.” In response to Dawson’s comments, PFL officials defended their decision, citing Schulte and Manfio’s contractual obligation to perform to the best of their ability in all bouts. They added that the two fighters clearly did not live up to this stipulated standard in their most recent match.
Dawson couldn’t help but suspect that perhaps there was a larger plot at play behind these actions. While acknowledging the Schulte vs. Manfio match-up was far from engaging, their punishment caused him to believe the underlying motive targeted at something entirely different. Dawson suspected that the primary objective behind the match-up was to cause some controversy allowing them to introduce Burgos into the tournament. He, however, expressed his happiness for his friend Burgos now having a chance to compete in the tournament. Despite his delight for his friend, he emphasized his disappointment for Schulte.