The
Professional Fighters League returned to the Coca-Cola Arena in
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for an action-packed mixed martial
arts event.
The
PFL Dubai card featured 13 fights, eight of which ended inside
the distance. In the headliner, Sergey
Bilostenniy upset Vadim
Nemkov to capture the PFL heavyweight championship. In the
co-main event, Patrick
Habirora tapped out Omar El
Dafrawy in their welterweight clash.
Here are five interesting matchups for the main card winners.
Bilostenniy (16-4, 5-1 PFL) put on a surgical performance,
outsmarting his former training partner Nemkov (20-3, 1 NC; 3-1
PFL) in the championship headliner. The Raty Team representative
showcased an educated jab that landed several times, possibly
breaking Nemkov’s nose. When the dust settled, Bilostenniy captured
the championship by unanimous decision, with scores of 49-46,
48-47, and 48-47. The first title challenger should be 2024 PFL
heavyweight champ Goltsov (38-9, 16-4 PFL), who crushed Maxwell
Djantou Nana (9-3, 4-2 PFL) with
punches in the opening frame of their clash earlier on
the card. With a 5-1 record in his last six appearances, including
a win over Oleg Popov,
Goltsov should ride straight to a title shot.
If any critics were left, Habirora (10-0, 6-0 PFL) silenced them
after today’s performance. “The Belgian Bomber” completely
dismantled El Dafrawy (16-7, 6-2 PFL) with a vicious guillotine
choke that
put his opponent to sleep at the 3:11 mark of Round 1.
After that performance, Habirora asked for a title shot in the
post-fight interview, but he might need to overcome another
obstacle first: Umalatov (18-1, 9-1 PFL). The Russian should have
fought Ernesto
Rodriguez in July before pulling out. He’s coming off a
first-round knockout over Anthony Ivy
in June 2025. Both fighters are well-known finishers, so fans
should enjoy this fight.
To no one’s surprise, Popov (24-2, 7-1 PFL) neutralized Pouya
Rahmani in the other heavyweight main-card bout. The Russian
was simply too much for Rahmani (5-1, 1 NC; 1-1, 1 NC PFL), who
trained with current Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight
titleholder Ciryl Gane
for this fight. After a one-sided fight, Popov earned a unanimous
decision and his fifth straight win. While it might not be easy for
the two men to accept, the only matchup that makes sense for Popov
is against fellow teammate and former heavyweight kingpin Nemkov.
The PFL heavyweight division isn’t very deep, so there aren’t many
possible fights. However, this fight is arguably the best
heavyweight matchup the PFL can put on right now to establish a No.
1 contender.
In the interpromotional clash between PFL and Rizin Fighting
Federation, Goto (21-9, 1-0 PFL) defended the honor of the Japanese
organization. Showcasing crisp striking and solid grappling, the
Tribe Tokyo MMA representative outclassed Sergio
Pettis (25-9, 2-2 PFL) en route to a unanimous decision (30-27,
30-27, 30-27). There are several interesting matchups for Goto
under the PFL banner, but one that should come next is against
Khavalov. The undefeated Russian (12-0, 4-0 PFL) has overcome all
kinds of competition in his PFL run. Earlier this year, he upended
Edgars
Skrivers via unanimous decision before outpointing Raufeon
Stots in April. The fight should be for No. 1 contender status
against the winner of the championship fight between Mitchell
McKee and Taylor
Lapilus in December.
McGrillen-Evans (14-2, 8-2 PFL) put on a show for the fans in his
135-pound contest with Nawras
Abzakh. After absorbing his opponent’s early offense,
McGrillen-Evans landed a knee that dropped Abzakh (15-7, 1 NC; 3-2
PFL) right at the end of the round. In the seconds that followed,
Abzakh opted to retire, giving McGrillen-Evans his second straight
victory. While the Englishman asked for Pettis in the
post-fight interview, a more intriguing fight would be against
former Brave Combat Federation 135-pound titleholder Ndebele (14-3,
6-0 PFL). “King” is on a six-bout winning streak and has competed
three times this year, pocketing as many decision victories. A
match between the pair should open the gates to the top 10 of the
PFL bantamweight division.
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