Three Potential Foes Who Could Welcome Shane Burgos To PFL

The 2022 Professional Fighters League (PFL) isn't even over yet, and the promotion is already loading up on the big guns for its next season.

Earlier this week, it was announced that PFL had signed top-ranked American featherweight Shane Burgos to an exclusive deal for the 2023 regular season.

The 31-year-old New York native owns an impressive 15-3 professional record, with ten of those wins coming by stoppage.

After going undefeated in the regional circuit, Burgos joined the UFC in 2016 and picked up three-straight victories.

Throughout his 11-fight run inside the Octagon, Burgos compiled an 8-3 mark, with notable victories over Cub Swanson, Billy Quarantillo and Charles Jourdain.

He also shared the cage with the likes of Calvin Kattar, Josh Emmett and Edson Barboza.

"The PFL is the land of opportunity, and I could not be happier to join the organization," said Burgos in a press release. "I chose the PFL because I share their values and vision for the sport. I am coming to prove I am the best and look forward to fighting in the 2023 PFL season competing within the most talented Featherweight division in the world."

Burgos becomes the most recent addition to an already-stacked featherweight roster, featuring some of the most talented 145-pounders on the planet.

With Burgos set to join next season's million-dollar featherweight tournament next year, here are some names that could give "Hurricane Shane" quite a welcome to PFL.

Lance Palmer

Two-time PFL featherweight champion Lance Palmer has hit quite the rough patch in the last two seasons, having lost three of his last four matches and missing out on the playoffs back-to-back.

Still, that doesn't mean that Palmer isn't a tough ask for the debuting Burgos.

Palmer snapped his three-fight skid with a decision win over Sheymon Moraes to end the 2022 regular season and could be well on his way to a career resurgence.

Palmer could announce his return to contender status with a win over one of the league's biggest acquisitions.

On the other hand, Burgos could get the same benefit by toppling the man who won the title twice at 145 pounds.

Movlid Khaybulaev

After sitting out the 2022 season due to injury, 2021 PFL featherweight champion Movlid Khaybulaev should be ready to go for the 2023 season.

The undefeated Russian tore through PFL's 145-pound weight class last year and will likely look to do the same next season to regain the title that he never lost.

A Burgos-Khaybulaev matchup would make nothing but perfect sense.

For Burgos, a victory can show that he can indeed hang with the league's best. Meanwhile, for Khaybulaev, a win can indicate that he remains to be the bracket's cream of the crop.

2022 PFL Featherweight Champion

If Burgos ends up being PFL's biggest featherweight signing for the 2023 season, then perhaps the most intriguing fight to make would be for him to take on the previous season's champion.

The thing is, right now, that's still up in the air.

The league's four best featherweights--Chris Wade, Ryoji Kudo, Bubba Jenkins and Brendan Loughnane--are set to go head-to-head in the semifinals at PFL Playoffs 3 this Saturday, August 20 in London.

Wade battles Loughnane, while Kudo locks horns with Jenkins. The winners of those two bouts will move on to face each other in the finals.

At this point, it's hard to pick a winner out of the lot, but based on past experience, it's fair to say that Wade is the favorite to win it all.

With that being said, Burgos vs. Wade to kick off the 2023 PFL season will be a must-see matchup.