PFL 2025 World Tournament One to Watch: Elora Dana

If you can pull off a victory over one of the most established a successful champions in recent history, you should be considered the favorite moving forward. That distinction could be on the line for Elora Dana, an undefeated 26-year-old Brazilian who has put herself in position for a crowning achievement less than 10 fights into her career.

Dana defeated Diana Avsaragova and moved to 8-0 with a first-round neck crank submission in the Professional Fighters League quarterfinals and sent a message to the rest of the women’s flyweight bracket. She may only be in her mid-20s, but with six finishes among her eight pro victories, she has established herself as a genuine threat to anyone. Five of those six finishes have resulted in submissions, which adds intrigue to her semifinal showdown with former Bellator MMA champion Liz Carmouche in the PFL 2025 World Tournament 6 co-main event this Friday at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas.

Fighters only get one shot! Watch the Semifinals of the PFL World Tournament LIVE Friday, June 20 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN+

Carmouche enjoyed a fantastic showing of her own in the first round of the tournament, as she picked up technical knockout via body punches against Ilara Joanne just 85 seconds into their April 11 encounter. Ahead of the tournament, Carmouche described “bucket-list finishes” she wanted to nail down before retiring and delivered on those hopes at Joanne’s expense.

Dana faces an undeniably difficult challenge against one of the pioneers of women’s MMA, but she has passed every test placed in front of her to this point. Because of Carmouche’s considerable experience, Dana does not figure to bring anything to the table that might surprise the veteran. As such, she will likely stick to what she does best: grappling and submissions. A ground battle between the two would be fascinating.

If Dana wants to cement her position as the next young female star to come out of the PFL, she will have to get past Carmouche to do so. She enters the match as a relative unknown and almost certainly overlooked by the masses, but her first performance of 2025 showed she has the skills to be the last woman standing.