Magomed
Umalatov has been one of the
Professional Fighters League’s best-kept secrets for the last
three years, but few will overlook him after ragdolling former
Bellator
MMA welterweight champion Andrey
Koreshkov for three rounds Friday night.
Umalatov (15-0) cruised to a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28,
29-28) in the
PFL 3: 2024 Regular Season main event at Wintrust Center in
Chicago. Despite taking Koreshkov down in the first round,
Umalatov’s inactivity cost him the round on the judges’ scorecards.
“Prince” wouldn’t make that mistake again. Over the next 10
minutes, Koreshkov dominated Koreshkov on the mat while smothering
all his potential offense. Although the two had 23 knockouts
between them coming into the fight, Umalatov wisely decided to turn
the fight into a wrestling match. With the win, Umalatov picked up
three points in the welterweight standings but trails Murad
Ramazanov and Don Madge, who
each earned six points in the 2024 PFL Welterweight Regular Season
standings.
PFL 2022 featherweight tournament winner Brendan
Loughnane (27-5) waited patiently to return to the cage after
being knocked out in last year’s campaign, but the mauler from
Manchester couldn’t wait any longer to administer violence on
Friday. In 1:26 Loughnane dropped Pedro
Carvalho twice, forcing Kevin
MacDonald to call the bout (TKO) in the first round. Carvalho,
who picked up his third-straight loss,
disputed the quick stoppage, but couldn’t argue Loughnane’s
dominance.
Undefeated prospect Shamil
Musaev (15-0-1) may have picked up one of the most impressive
wins of the PFL regular season after starching former Bellator
interim welterweight champion Logan
Storley (15-3) in the second round (0:27).
Storley may have overlooked the unproven Musaev, but nobody will
make that mistake again after this fight. Musaev controlled the
distance early and hurt Storley with a spinning back kick to the
solar plexus. Musaev walloped Storley with every weapon he had and
nearly took him out in the first round. As Storley stumbled out for
the second frame, Musaev sensed the cobwebs and
dusted the former No. 1 contender with a short uppercut. With
the win, Musaev picked up five points and crushed an opponent that
was viewed as a potential favorite to win the whole tournament.
Gabriel
Braga refused to be denied.
After losing the PFL featherweight championship last season, Braga
stormed back into the tournament with a first-round knockout over
Justin
Gonzales (4:59). Braga (13-1) took his time to settle into the
fight as Gonzales pushed the pace and looked to dominate in the
clinch. Once separated, Braga
unleashed his fight-ending power and caught the back-peddling
Gonzales on the button with a short and sweet left hook. The
punch laid out Gonzales with exactly one second left in the first
round, giving Braga a six-point finish and the top spot in the
featherweight standings. The win was especially sweet for Braga,
who was emotional after winning his first fight without his father
Deigo, who was murdered in Brazil three months ago.
Goiti
Yamauchi (29-6) returned to the cage a year after knee surgery
to face familiar foe Neiman
Gracie. Yamauchi may have knocked Gracie out in their first
fight two years ago, but he wasn’t able to starch him this time
around.
Gracie, however, didn’t take advantage of Yamauchi’s ring rust and
was outworked en route to the decision loss (29-28, 29-28,
29-28).
Kai
Kamaka III may have had an underwhelming start to his career,
but he’s starting to pick up steam. “The Fighting Hawaiian” picked
up the biggest win of his career on Friday when he became the first
to beat PFL veteran Bubba
Jenkins in a regular-season bout.
Kamaka (13-5-1) wasn’t phased by Jenkins’ (21-8) high pace early
and went blow-for-blow with the former NCAA DI wrestling national
champion. Jenkins didn’t try to employ his wrestling until the
second round and was frustrated by Kamaka’s well-time sprawls.
Heading into the final frame tied on the scorecards, Kamaka took
the lead with a pace that left Jenkins breathing out his mouth.
Although the fight was razor-thin, Kamaka’s consistency and strong
finish gave him the nod from all three judges (29-28, 29-28,
29-28).
Adam
Borics and Enrique
Barzola stole the show Friday night with one of the best fights
of the PFL Regular Season. Borics nearly sniffed Bellator
MMA featherweight gold before falling short to Patrcio Freire.
The Hungarian returned after a year and a half layoff, looking to
make a strong opening statement, but got more than he bargained for
from the punchy Peruvian.
Borics controlled the action early using his four-inch height
advantage. He tagged Barzola with jabs and leg kicks and even
wobbled his man. Barzola closed the round on a strong note by
blasting Borics with a bazooka of a right hand. Borics fell back
into the fence and went to his stool with newfound respect. Borics
upped the ante in the second round after putting Barzola flat on
his back with a perfectly timed pull counter right hand. Barzola
stumbled around the cage while Borics threw everything at him
looking for the finish he’d never find. Once Barzola cleared his
head, he took advantage of Borics’ inconsistent striking and took
him down before closing out the round with some
ground-and-pound.
The third and final round didn’t disappoint as Barzola went for
broke. Borics, with the first two rounds seemingly secured, worked
behind his jab but ate several right hands for his trouble. Barzola
came forward and pushed the pace, looking for the finish, but the
sturdy-chined Borics wouldn’t budge. After 15 minutes of non-stop
action, the fight went to the scorecards where Borics was awarded a
slim unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
Undefeated Dagestani Ramazanov (12-0, 1 NC) punished Laureano
Staropoli for coming in five pounds overweight for their
welterweight clash with an easy first-round submission (4:06).
Staropoli (13-7) was riding high with a four-fight win streak and
thought he could catch the former ONE
Championship combatant with a flying knee. Unfortunately for
Staropoli, Ramazanov slipped the shot and locked up his clinch.
Ramazanov transitioned to Staropoli’s back before eventually
passing his guard and securing full mount.
Ramazanov peppered Staropoli from above until he ended the fight
with a rear-naked choke in the closing minute of the first
round.
Timur
Khizriev put his undefeated record against one of the most
battle-tested featherweights in the field in Brett Johns.
Johns has wins in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship, Bellator and PFL and provided
Khizriev with one of his toughest tests to date.
Despite the challenge, Khizriev kept his perfect record intact
(15-0) with a gritty unanimous decision win (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Khizriev kept the fight predominantly on the ground and looked to
smother John’s offense. John (20-4) scrambled and reversed position
but never threatened Khizriev with a submission. Khizriev’s
wrestling-dominant approach wasn’t fan-friendly but it was
effective as the Dagestani dominated control time in all three
rounds. With the win, Khizriev kept himself in the playoff hunt but
he may need to show more elements of his game in his next
fight.
Madge and Brennan
Ward both have sleep-inducing power in their fists, but Madge
wouldn’t give Ward the chance to put him out. Ward opened the fight
with a slick uchi mata, but causally allowed Madge back to his feet
so they could trade punches in the center. Madge, however,
flipped the script and took Ward’s back before submitting him with
a rear-naked choke at the 1:02 mark. The first-round finish
gave Madge a headstart in the welterweight standings while granting
Ward (17-8) his second-straight loss.
After missing the playoffs two years in a row,
Team Alpha Male product Tyler
Diamond entered his featherweight alternate fight against
Otto
Rodrigues with much to prove. Rodrigues carried a 13-fight win
streak into his PFL debut but had trouble handling Diamond’s
power.
Diamond (13-3) put on one of the best performances of his career
and dominated Rodrigues en route to a unanimous decision win
(30-26, 30-26, 30-27). Rodrigues looked to trade with Diamond early
in the fight but was walked down and dropped by Diamond’s rock-hard
right hand. Diamond piled on the pressure in the second round and
nearly finished Rodrigues, but the Brazillan clinched and survived
to the next period. With a damaged eye, Rodrigues came out for the
final stanza and nearly pulled off the comeback with a last-minute
guillotine, but Diamond popped out and secured the win.
Thad
Jean made his case for a spot in next year’s PFL welterweight
tournament with a devastating first-round knockout of Romain
Debienne. Standing 6-foot-2, “Silverback” used his superior
reach to club Debienne around the center of the cage. After
clipping Debienne with a left hook,
Jean followed up with a slick uppercut that sent the Frenchman
to the canvas. Jean finished off his foe at 2:07 with a flurry of
blows to improve his record to 7-0.
