After being ‘salty’ at UFC, Chris Wade sees PFL final as redemption: ‘It’s meant to be’
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Chris Wade is one fight away from being a champion in a major MMA organization and having an extra $1 million in his pocket.
The MMA veteran punched his ticket to the 2021 PFL featherweight final with a dominant win over Bubba Jenkins in the co-main event of Friday’s 2021 PFL Playoffs 3. Wade (20-6) outpointed Jenkins (16-5) in a unanimous decision, winning 30-27, 30-27, and 29-28 on the judges’ scorecards.
2021 PFL Playoffs 3 took place at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. The main card aired on ESPN 2 and ESPN+ with the prelims exclusively on ESPN+.
The former UFC fighter has been fighting for many years to finally get a chance at becoming champion in a major organization. After many ups and downs in his career, Wade feels like it’s all building up for this moment, as he’s set to take on Movlid Khaybulaev on Oct. 27 in the 2021 PFL featherweight final.
“I think this is meant to be,” Wade told MMA Junkie. “I think God has a weird way of working and this is happening for me and not to me.
“I knew in my heart of hearts that it would be Movlid and I because of how tough the Dagestani people are and he’s just a great fighter. But you know what, my teammate and one of my closest friends is Andre Harrison in the sport and he gave Movlid already everything that he could handle. They fought to a draw, so his coach is now my coach, so we also have tape on him too so it’s going to be interesting.”
Wade has been fighting under PFL since the start of the organization and this is the first time he makes it to the final of a season. This is a very special moment of his career, especially after having his UFC career not go as expected.
He went 5-2 under the Las Vegas promotion with losses to tough fighters Rustam Khabilov and Islam Makhachev and still saw his run with the promotion come to an end.
“I spent some time being pretty salty with the UFC,” Wade said. “I was 5-2, I had a few first-round finishes and it was just clear that they were looking for guys that put their feet down and slug it out and hurt each other and knock each other out.
“They don’t want to see all of mixed martial arts. They don’t want to see grapplers, wrestlers. Wrestlers seem to always get the short end of the stick when it comes to that promotion, so I wish them nothing. That’s the truth, they deserve nothing.”
