PROFESSIONAL FIGHTERS LEAGUE Debuts This Thursday, June 7, on NBCSN

NBC Sports presents the 2018 regular season debut of the PROFESSIONAL FIGHTERS LEAGUE this Thursday, June 7, live at 9 p.m. ET on NBCSN from Madison Square Garden in New York City. MMA coverage will be headlined by a featherweight showdown between undefeated Long Island native Andre Harrison (17-0) and Jumabieke Tuerxun (20-6-1), as well as Lance Palmer (12-3) vs. Bekbulat Magomedov (19-1) in a featherweight matchup.

Harrison enters this PFL season as the former WORLD SERIES OF FIGHTING Featherweight Champion and the last to hold the belt after taking the title from Palmer with a unanimous decision win in March 2017. He'll look to build on his impressive record with a win at the Garden, less than 40 miles from the gym where he started his career cleaning the locker room to pay for training. Tuerxun, known for both his striking and wrestling abilities, is coming off a loss in his most recent fight, a May 26th bout against Boris Federov. He'll seek to bounce back with a win over Harrison just 12 days later.

Palmer, a four-time All-American wrestler at Ohio State University, comes off a win over fellow PFL featherweight Steven Siler (29-17) via unanimous decision at PFL: FIGHT NIGHT in November 2017, while Magomedov, a native of Dagestan, Russia, has only one loss in his 20-fight career. The NBCSN show will also feature Shawn Jordan (19-8) vs. Philipe Lins (10-3) in a heavyweight bout, Timur Valiev (12-1) vs. Max Coga (19-4) in a featherweight bout, and Caio Alencar (11-2) vs. Jake Heun (11-6) in a heavyweight bout. On the heavyweight side, Jordan was a two-time BCS National Champion fullback at LSU before beginning his MMA career and developing a reputation as a knockout specialist, while Lins is a Brazilian fighter known for his significant reach and fast fists.

Todd Harris calls the action, joined by analysts Randy Couture, Yves Edwards, and Bas Rutten, as well as reporter Caroline Pearce.

The PROFESSIONAL FIGHTERS LEAGUE features a regular season, playoffs, and championship, and individual fighters compete in a win-and-advance postseason format. The 2018 PFL season consists of seven regular-season events, a bracket-style playoff, and a $10 million postseason prize pool. The premiere season begins with 72 athletes, 12 in each of the six different weight-classes, with one fighter in each division earning the title of true champion. NBC Sports will present exclusive live Thursday night PFL telecasts, including seven regular-season live events in prime time exclusively on NBCSN through the end of August.

NBC SPORTS APP: The NBC Sports app - NBC Sports Group's live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs - will stream coverage on NBCSN via "TV Everywhere," giving consumers additional value for their subscription service, and making high quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms. The NBC Sports app is available on Apple iOS, Android and select Samsung devices, as well as on Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Comcast's X1, Roku, Win10, and Xbox.

The NBC Sports app is powered by Playmaker Media, NBC Sports Digital's technology service which provides end-to-end support for companies in need of best-in-class live streaming and VOD solutions.

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