Shabliy targets new win streak against Ward at PFL Chicago on Oct. 16

Alexandr Shabliy will step back into the cage on October 16 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, where the Russian lightweight is booked to face Landry Ward (11-3) at PFL Chicago — the promotion’s card headlined by the women’s flyweight title rematch between Liz Carmouche and Jena Bishop.

Shabliy (25-4) carries one of the more resilient records in the PFL lightweight division. He has lost just once since 2017 and had strung together nine consecutive victories before running into Usman Nurmagomedov, the most recent PFL lightweight champion. His last outing, a win over Alfie Davis in June, served as a confidence-restoring bounce-back, and he now enters PFL Chicago looking to build another extended run.

Ward arrives in good form of his own. The American went 11-3 overall and earned a split-decision victory over Michael Boylan in his PFL debut on August 7, extending his current winning streak to three fights. The matchup pits two fighters with momentum against each other in what shapes up as a meaningful lightweight contest.

The broader PFL Chicago card has continued to fill out around the main event. At heavyweight, Denis Goltsov (17-1) is matched against Maxwell Djantou Nana (13-2), while the bantamweight division sees Sarvarjon Khamidov (37-9) take on Rafael do Nascimento (9-2). Together with the Shabliy-Ward lightweight bout, those additions give the October 16 card significant depth beyond the Carmouche-Bishop headline.