PFL World Tournament 5 – Sarek Shields vs Joseph Luciano

Locked inside the Nashville Municipal Auditorium on June 12, 2025, welterweights Sarek “Berserker” Shields and Joseph Luciano met in a high-stakes preliminary clash at PFL World Tournament 5.

From the start, Shields—making his PFL debut—immediately asserted dominance, chopping Luciano’s base with crisp low kicks before pouncing in the clinch. Time and again, he gripped Luciano against the cage, lifting and slamming him to the mat with authority. By the end of Round 1, Shields had secured Luciano’s back, peppered him with shots, and rattled the challenger with relentless pressure.

Round 2 only amplified the rhythm. Shields landed low kicks and drove Luciano down at will, dragging him across the SmartCage while hunting another back-take. Luciano managed a few brief rebounds, but Shields’ pace and wrestling acumen carried the session.

In Round 3, Shields continued to pummel Luciano’s grappling-heavy base—dropping him again, establishing dominant back control with hooks and a body triangle, and landing heavy shots. Despite Luciano’s resilience, Shields executed his eighth takedown of the contest and spent a cumulative 12+ minutes in top control over the three rounds .

When the final horn sounded, the judges sealed it with a clean sweep: 30–27, 30–27, 30–27 in favor of Shields. He exited the night at 7–2, having announced his arrival in the PFL cage as a forcefully assertive grappling technician. Luciano falls to 10–4, but earned respect for his heart, even as he was controlled from bell to bell.

Shields’ performance was a showcase of overwhelming wrestling, steady pressure, and positional mastery—earning him the unanimous decision and placing him squarely on the tournament radar.