Jesus Pinedo is looking for a statement victory when he faces Gabriel Braga on June 12 in Nashville, competing for a spot in the 2025 PFL featherweight tournament finals.
Pinedo and Braga first met in April 2023, when Braga entered as a short-notice replacement and won a split decision in Las Vegas. The rematch went down eight months later for the 145-pound championship, when Pinedo claimed the $1 million prize with a third-round knockout.
The official score is 1-1 going into PFL 5 on Thursday, but the Peruvian talent disputes that.
“You’ve heard me say this before, I’ll say it again and I’ll continue to say it forever: I did not lose that first fight against Gabriel Braga,” Pinedo told MMA Fighting through a translator. “Right now I believe that I’m 2-0 and June 12 I’m gonna go 3-0. I’m gonna go in there break him get the stoppage and continue on to the finals.”
Pinedo calls the Brazilian “a very respectable opponent”, but predicts another emphatic finish to advance for the $500,000 final clash with whoever emerges victorious from Movlid Khaybulaev vs. Tae Kyun Kim.
“When we face off I’m coming to break him and I’m going to get my spot in the finals,” Pinedo said. “Gabriel’s game is his fight IQ, it’s undeniable. He’s a great fighter, no one’s denying that, but what I bring to the table in our fight, he can’t stop. I’m coming in there to break him. I’m coming into they got the win. I don’t think he has the game plan to figure me out because I’m such a unique fighter. So on June 12, I’m gonna get that victory.”
“I’m always confident, but the confidence never comes over beating opponents or getting wins over certain opponents,” he continued. “My confidence comes from every morning I’m waking up 4:30 in the morning, I’m going to run, I’m doing all the reps that I needed to do in order to be successful. So the confidence that I have, it’s all from training, it’s all from what I’m doing outside of the cage that’s what gives me my confidence.”
Pínedo scored 15 of his 24 professional wins by knockout, but feels that his ground game is often overlooked. His most recent submission victory happened in 2018, back in his days as Inka FC champion in his native Peru, and is proud to represent luta livre in the cage.
“A lot of people don’t know that [I’m a luta livre black belt], they think we don’t train wrestling, but the reality is that day to day, what we’re doing the most is wrestling and grappling,” Pinedo said. “That’s where the strength comes in for the academy that I train at. And if the fight goes there, then I have no reservations showing the world my grappling game and coming out on top of the submission victory if I have to.”
PFL inked a broadcast deal with FOX Sports Mexico this past March and company CEO Peter Murray mentioned the possibility of launching a PFL Latin America league “as early as next year.”
Pinedo said that the MMA scene in Peru is “growing year over year” even though it’s not a country filled with elite fighters competing in world-class promotions, likes other Latin American countries such as Brazil and Mexico, but Peruvian fighters are “making some noise and they’re making a name for themselves and representing the country well.”
PFL has yet to announce plans for a Latin America show in 2026, but Pinedo would love to be the face of that company — and maybe headline a PFL show in Peru one day.
“That’s definitely a dream of mine,” Pinedo said. “It’s something that’s always top of mind. I’m hoping to chase this championship final in the world tournament and then with two belts under the PFL banner I hope that that’s going to be enough to bring the PFL show here to Peru where I can fight. The future is a little ambiguous, we don’t know how things are going to roll out, but I’m going to keep doing my part and keep winning and becoming a champion. And I know that that’s the only going to help the case to get PFL to come to Peru.”
