Usman Nurmagomedov's former rival returns for PFL Chicago

Alexandr Shabliy will return to action at PFL Chicago on October 16 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. The Russian lightweight, coming off a June win against Alfie Davis, will face Landry Ward (11-3) in a lightweight bout headlined by a women's flyweight title rematch between Liz Carmouche and Jena Bishop.

Shabliy (25-4) has lost just once since 2017 and was riding a nine-fight winning streak before suffering a defeat to Usman Nurmagomedov, the most recent PFL lightweight champion. He bounced back from that loss with his victory over Davis and now looks to rebuild momentum against Ward, who is coming off a split-decision victory over Michael Boylan in his PFL debut on August 7 and has won his last three fights.

The PFL Chicago card also features heavyweight action between Denis Goltsov (17-1) and Maxwell Djantou Nana (13-2), as well as a bantamweight matchup between Sarvarjon Khamidov (37-9) and Rafael do Nascimento (9-2). The event airs Saturday, October 16 at 11 p.m. ET on ESPN.