The Professional Fighters League has set the light heavyweight and lightweight finals during the PFL Hollywood card.
The 11-bout card was headlined by an intriguing light heavyweight rematch between 2023 champion Impa Kasanganay and Joshua Silveira. Kasanganay (17-4) won their first bout less than a year ago, but Silveira (13-3) was much more aggressive and won in the first round. Kasanganay did much better in the second round, but “Coninha” landed some slick uppercuts late in the match. Both fighters landed some hard punches in the final five minutes, and the outcome was left to the judges’ discretion.
Ultimately, the judges ruled in favor of Kasaganay, winning by unanimous decision with scores of 29-28, 29-28, 30-27, and he is now in his second consecutive light heavyweight final, looking to win back-to-back championships.
Yagsimuradov Decision Wilkinson
In the co-main event, former champion Rob Wilkinson faced off against Dovretzhan Yagusimuradov for a spot in the finals. A back-and-forth first round saw Yagusimuradov (24-7-1) gain a slight advantage with some heavy striking. Wilkinson (19-3, 1 no kick) found more success as the bout went on, preventing a few takedown attempts, but Yagusimuradov was landing the hardest kicks and punches. The third round was close, but the match remained the same.
Yagsimuradov fought his way through and won by unanimous decision with the scorecards at 30-27.
Rabadanov defeats Dufort
Gadzhi Labadanov knocked out Michael Dufort to advance to the lightweight final.
The first round started off fairly tepid, with both fighters feeling each other out and trading jabs, but things dramatically changed in the second round when Rabadanov (23-4-1) dropped Dufort (13-6) with an overhand left, stopping the bout with some heavy ground-and-pound and advancing to the championship.
The bout was stopped at 1 minute, 51 seconds into the second round.
Plymouth beats Corrado
The first lightweight semifinal bout between Brent Primus and Clay Collard was one of the most anticipated bouts of the night, but it didn’t go the way fans expected.
Instead, the opening frame was dominated by Primus (15-3, 1 NC), who was able to take Collado’s (25-14, 1 NC) back and control the bout. The second frame was more of the same, but despite the one-sided defeat, the finish was never that close. In the final round, a bloodied Collado had more success standing, but again conceded a takedown, ceded the back and lost most of the frame.
After 15 minutes, the judges awarded Primus a unanimous decision victory with scores of 30-27, 30-27, 30-26, and he will now face Rabadanov for a chance to win $1 million.
Ali Walsh knocks out Stapleton in no time
The opening fight on the main card pitted lightweight prospect Biaggio “Ali” Walsh against Brian Stapleton, who was 4.5 pounds overweight.
Clearly frustrated by his opponent’s lack of professionalism, Ali Walsh (2-0) came out looking to strike. It quickly became clear that Stapleton (0-1) was outmatched in the stand-up, as Ali Walsh landed 14 of 19 punches, knocking him out with a powerful overhand right and two follow-up punches.
The first-round bout was officially stopped after 55 seconds.
PFL 8 2024 Preliminary Results:
In the prelims, bantamweight contender Danny Sabatello (14-4-1) faced Lazaro Dayron (8-0-1) and Sabatello won the bout 29-27, 28-28, 28-28 after Dayron was penalized for grabbing the fence. Mads Burnell (20-6) beat lightweight Elvin Espinoza (10-2) over 15 minutes, winning the three bouts by scores of 29-28. Welterweight prospect Thad Jean (8-0) remained undefeated with a unanimous decision victory (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) over Chris Brown (10-5). Jordan Oliver (2-0) won a unanimous decision over featherweight Braydon Akeow by scores of 30-27, 29-28, 29-28, and in the first bout of the night, women’s featherweight Michelle Montague (5-0) submitted Marilia Moraes (3-1) via rear-naked choke just 1 minute, 44 seconds into the first round.
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