Inside the UFL

Inside the UFL

by Fran Stuchbury
Published on June 4, 2026 under United Football League (UFL)


The Louisville Kings clinched the final playoff spot in the last week of the United Football League season as the Birmingham Stallions were eliminated when they lost to the Houston Gamblers 26-13.

With the postseason field decided, Sunday's games will determine who plays for the United Bowl trophy June 13.

DC Defenders vs. Orlando Storm

Due to Orlando's stadium being unavailable, the UFL originally announced the game would be played in Columbus, Ohio. Instead, they worked out an agreement to hold the playoff contest at Daytona Stadium in Daytona Beach, Florida.

"As we said from the beginning, our preference was always to keep this game as close to our Orlando fanbase as possible," said UFL President and CEO Russ Brandon. "When we announced Columbus, we did so to ensure we had a venue confirmed to be able to play the game after exhausting every viable option in the market to that point. Since then, a potential opportunity we had looked into further surfaced in Daytona Beach that warranted immediate onsite evaluation over the weekend. Once we determined the venue had the ability to work with the collective stakeholders on an expedited timeline, we felt it was important to pivot and bring this game back to Central Florida. We can't thank the collective partners enough for working with us on this solution."

The Storm defeated the Defenders in previous matchups between the teams, 27-19 at home in week 9 and 29-23 on the road in week 10.

The Storm finished 8-2 and a perfect 5-0 on the road. They head into the postseason on a four-game winning streak.

"You can say what you want about this league," said Orlando Storm Head Coach Anthony Becht, "There's a lot of parity and there's a lot of teams that could probably beat us in any given day, but you got to go out there and take it every single week. To go 8-2 in this climate where the parity is higher, I just give a lot of credit to these players. They bought in since day one and it's not an overnight thing. It takes time, it takes diligence, and we're ready for the next step. We are going to enjoy what we've done in the regular season. It's an incredible accomplishment."

"It's not trying to beat them three times in a in a row," added Becht. "This is the next game; that's all that matters. We're locked in."

Becht is 0-2 in the postseason as head coach of the St. Louis Battlehawks. In 2024 they lost to the San Antonio Brahmas in the XFL Conference Championship and in 2025 they lost to the Defenders in the XFL Conference Championship.

"I have not had a lot of success at this next step," explained Becht. "But I've learned and grown from those situations, how to get ourselves prepared for these moments. Now I get a chance to do it again, and I can't wait for that opportunity with some really great players that have bought in at the highest level."

Quarterback Jack Plummer, who led the UFL in with 2,188 passing yards, will be key. Chris Rowland is his favorite target with 53 receptions and 530 receiving yards. Rowland played with DC the previous two seasons.

Orlando's defense will aim to put pressure on Defenders starting quarterback Jason Bean. Last week the Storm secondary picked off Bean twice and safety Mishael Powell returned one of the interceptions 93 yards for a touchdown.

The defending UFL Champions limp into this postseason on a four-game skid. DC lost tarting quarterback Jordan Ta'amu to a season-ending torn ACL in his right knee during a week 8 matchup against the Louisville Kings.

After Spencer Sanders finished the game and started week 9, Bean took over last week.

The Defenders must cut down on turnovers, after losing 12 the past four games.

To take pressure off Jason Bean the Defenders will look to establish a running game with Deon Jackson and Abram Smith who combined for 726 yards and nine touchdowns this year. In last week's loss, Bean showed some mobility on broken plays when he got outside the pocket with 11 carries for 116 yards. His longest run went for 47 yards.

The Defenders defense has to stop big plays from the Orlando offense such as Chris Rowland 62-yard touchdown reception in week 9 and Cam Camper's 74-yard catch last week.

Louisville Kings vs. St. Louis Battlehawks

The Battlehawks defeated the Kings 16-3 in week 6, Louisville's last loss.

The Kings come into this game on a four-game winning streak under first year Head Coach Chris Redman. The Kings success came after trading Bean to DC and handing over the starting quarterback position to Chandler Rogers. Rogers has completed 62 percent of his passes after Bean hit on just 47.5 percent of his throws.

Ian Wheeler has been an explosive runner for the Kings, averaging 5.5 yards per carry and six rushing touchdowns. Former Jacksonville Jaguars running back James Robinson has contributed 300 yards on the ground.

Louisville spreads the football around to wide receivers Lucky Jackson, Isaiah Winstead and Tarik Black.

The Kings has led the charge with Cam Gill leading the UFL with 10 sacks and cornerback Corey Mayfield Jr, tied for the most interceptions with four. Louisville had 13 interceptions to lead the league and was first in the UFL in turnover margin at plus-7.

St. Louis enters the game losing two of their last three games. They have played musical chairs at quarterback first with Brandon Silvers, then Harrison Frost and finally settling on Luis Perez who they acquired from the Dallas Renegades.

The offensive line has to be much better against Louisville. In last week's loss to the Dallas Renegades, Perez was sacked seven times.

If he has time, Perez will look for wide receiver Hakeem Butler who averages 22 yards per catch.

Looking to take some of the load off the passing game will be Jarveon Howard who is the best rusher in the UFL with 456 yards.

The Battlehawks defense has been solid all season, surrendering just 243 yards per game, first in the league. They also lead the UFL with 31 sacks. Linebacker Pita Taumoepenu is ranked second in the circuit with eight sacks.

Semifinal Playoff games

Sunday, June 7th

DC Defenders vs. Orlando Storm at Daytona Beach, FL - 3 pm est. ABC

Louisville Kings at St. Louis Battlehawks - 6 pm est. FOX

EXTRA POINTS

  1. Friday's Dallas at St. Louis game was witnessed by 24,621 attendees. Saturday's Houston at Birmingham game drew 5,253. Sunday's Orlando at DC contest attracted 9,924, while the Louisville at Columbus weekend finale drew 10,705 spectators.

  2. Dallas Renegades quarterback Austin Reed, Renegades cornerback Ajene Harris and Dallas wide receiver Emmanuel Butler were named the OurSports Central United Football League Offensive Player, Defensive Player and Unsung Hero of the Week, respectively, for week ten of UFL season.

  3. Columbus Aviators kicker Jonah Dalmas booted a 61-yard field goal, the fourth four-point kick of the season.

  4. The Dallas Renegades defense dominated the St. Louis Battlehawks with seven sacks, two interceptions, one fumble recovery, and five pass breakups, helping Dallas snap their six-game losing streak.

  5. The Houston Gamblers ran up a UFL record 278 yards on the ground in their triumph over the Birmingham Stallions. In the third quarter Marcus Major scampered 72 yards for a touchdown.

  6. The 10-week UFL regular season, featured 20 games across ESPN networks (ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes & NFL Network), saw an increase of eight percent from the 2025 regular season, averaging 686K viewers. The games on ABC saw a 14 percent increase from 2025, averaging 941,000 viewers.

  7. After announcing global music icon 50 Cent as this year's halftime performer, the United Football League has now also added acclaimed Beastie Boy's DJ Mix Master Mike and Voices of Service to the lineup of performances during the league's championship game at Audi Field in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET.
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United Football League Stories from June 4, 2026


The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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