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FIGHT ODDS

Playoff Roundup: PFL 9 Paves Way for Musaev-Umalatov, Loughnane-Khizriev Finals

Mike PendletonAug 24, 2024

The 2024 Professional Fighters League semifinals continued with PFL 9 on Friday at The Anthem in Washington, D.C., where featherweights and welterweights took center stage.

In the main event, former PFL champion Brendan Loughnane took on Kai Kamaka III, with an eye on returning to the 145-pound final. There were fireworks early and often between Loughnane and Kamaka, with a late first-round flurry from the Englishman nearly resulting in a finish. A back-and-forth affair ensued across 15 minutes, and each man had his moments. Loughnane was awarded a split decision and a spot in the $1 million featherweight championship.

In the co-headliner, Neiman Gracie replaced an injured Don Madge in the welterweight semifinal opposite Magomed Umalatov. Despite a fantastic effort from Gracie, Umalatov controlled each round and walked away with a unanimous decision to punch his ticket to the 170-pound final.

The other featherweight semifinal featured the undefeated Timur Khizriev and Tropa Thai’s Gabriel Braga. While both men enjoyed success at points, Khizriev’s pace and pressure ultimately proved to be too much for the Brazilian. Braga put together some wild and effective flurries, leading one judge to submit a scorecard in his favor. Nevertheless, the heavily favored Khizriev nailed down a split decision and set his sights on Loughnane in the featherweight final.



In the other welterweight semifinal, Shamil Musaev and Murad Ramazanov locked horns in a rematch. Musaev handed Ramazanov his first professional defeat when he stopped him with second-round punches during the regular season. Their second encounter in a matter of months saw Ramazanov hold his own and last the entire 15 minutes, even as his fellow Russian controlled the vast majority of the fight. Musaev was awarded a clear-cut unanimous decision.

With that, the 2024 welterweight championship was set: Musaev vs. Umalatov, with both men getting their first shot at PFL gold. It has all the makings to be one of the best technical fights of the year, as the two men own a combined record of 36-0-1. Meanwhile, Loughnane seeks his second PFL championship in three years when he confronts Khizriev in the 145-pound final.

Light heavyweights and lightweights took center stage at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, for PFL 8.

Former Bellator MMA lightweight champion Brent Primus, who was the top seed in the playoffs at 155 pounds, faced 2023 PFL finalist Clay Collard to begin the lightweight semifinals. It didn’t take long for Primus to establish his grappling in the first round. After a brief exchange on the feet, Primus took Collard’s back and held control throughout the entire second half of the first round. The second round was more of the same, with Primus showing even more dangerous grappling attacks. The grappling attacks from Primus were effectively allowing him to keep control, much to the dismay of the crowd, which poured on the boos through the first 10 minutes. Keeping his control and unleashing a flurry of ground-and-pound, Primus opened up Collard late in the middle stanza. However, the fight would go to the third round. It was more of the same there, too, as Collard had early success on the feet to start the round. Primus once again won position and took Collard’s back. Unlike the first two rounds, however, Collard managed to fight out of it and brought on a late striking attack. It wasn’t enough, and Primus took a unanimous decision.

In the second lightweight semifinal, Gadzhi Rabadanov took on Michael Dufort. Both fighters kept it on the feet, until Rabadanov took control with his wrestling with the first round coming to an end. Looking to negate the wrestling attacks from Rabadanov, Dufort threatened with his own pressure and takedown attempts, but once they went back to the feet, Rabadanov closed the show. The Russian dropped Dufort with a left hook and finished it with a punishing ground-and-pound attack in the second round.

With that, the million-dollar lightweight final was set. Primus faces Rabadanov in November, with both men getting their first chance at PFL gold.



The light heavyweight semifinals closed out the show, starting with onetime PFL champion Rob Wilkinson taking on Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov. In a very competitive first round between the two, Yagshimuradov landed the cleaner strikes and pushed the pace on the former champion. It would be much of the same in the second round, although the action would pick up quite a bit. Yagshimuradov continued to connect with the cleaner, more powerful shots. While it was an entertaining battle throughout, in the end, Yagshimuradov clinched his place in the 2024 PFL light heavyweight championship via unanimous decision.

The main event was a rematch of the 2023 light heavyweight final, and it got started quickly between the two participants. Joshua Silveira came out looking to make the fight a brawl and had success early in the first round. Silveira showed more aggression than the first time the two met back in November. A close first round would be duplicated in the second, which saw both fighters have their respective moments. Impa Kasanganay kept his pace throughout the fight, and while Silveira had his moments, the reigning champion took over in the third round. He used cage control and a heavy flurry of power punches at the end of the fight to secure the victory by unanimous decision.

Kasanganay advances to the 2024 PFL light heavyweight final, where he will seek back-to-back championships against Yagshimuradov.



After missing weight for the first time in her professional career, reigning Bellator MMA champion Liz Carmouche needed a finish or dominant performance on the scorecards due to the point deduction she was given ahead of her semifinal with Taila Santos. The two veteran women were engaged in a back-and-forth affair throughout the fight, with both having their moments across their 15-minute encounter.

Ultimately, the fight went to the judges, and all three scored the fight for Santos. In her first year with the PFL, the Brazilian has punched her ticket to the women’s flyweight final and will look to achieve the world champion status that eluded her in her previous tenure with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The men’s heavyweight division got started with Oleg Popov taking on late-replacement Linton Vassell, and the Russian dominated his way to the final. Popov used dominant wrestling and control to wear down Vassell, giving him no time to get into his own game plan. He controlled the fight from bell to bell.

Meanwhile, with Santos watching from cageside, she had the best seat in the house when Dakota Ditcheva faced Jena Bishop in the other semifinal at 125 pounds. It was billed as the “classic striker vs. grappler” matchup, but it did not last long. Answering the critics who doubted her ability to hang with a grappler, Ditcheva weathered early pressure from Bishop and did what she does best, using an outstanding striking display to drop the Alliance Jiu-Jitsu rep in the first round. She followed up with more punches and knees, forcing the referee to call the fight just minutes after it began.



In the main event, Tim Johnson took on Denis Goltsov, who has been in the playoffs four times previously but has yet to claim PFL gold. Much like the Ditcheva-Bishop co-headliner, the fight was done in quick order, as Goltsov managed to get Johnson to the mat and finish with ground-and-pound, securing his second consecutive trip to the heavyweight final.



The 2024 PFL heavyweight championship will see the top seed in Goltsov matched with the second-seeded Popov. The top two seeds will also square off in the 2024 PFL women’s flyweight championship, as Ditcheva faces Santos for the world title at 125 pounds. The winners will receive $1 million.



The remaining pairings for the 2024 PFL championships will be decided at PFL 9 on Aug. 23, when the featherweight and welterweight playoffs take place in Washington, D.C. Finals for all divisions are set for November.


WELTERWEIGHT

x-10: Shamil Musaev
x-9: Magomed Umalatov
x-6: Don Madge
x-6: Murad Ramazanov
3: Neiman Gracie
3: Andrey Koreshkov
3: Goiti Yamauchi
0: Logan Storley
0: Brennan Ward
0: Luca Poclit
-1: Laureano Staropoli

***



FEATHERWEIGHT

x11: Brendan Loughnane
x10: Gabriel Braga
x6: Timur Khizriev
x-6: Kai Kamaka III
3: Adam Borics
3: Tyler Diamond
0: Enrique Barzola
0: Brett Johns
0: Bubba Jenkins
0: Pedro Carvalho

0: Justin Gonzales

***



LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

x-11: Impa Kasanganay
x-9: Rob Wilkinson
x-9: Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov
x-6: Joshua Silveira
6: Antonio Carlos Jr.
4: Sadibou Sy
3: Alex Polizzi
0: Simon Biyong
0: Jakob Nedoh
0: Andrew Sanchez
0: Tom Breese

***



LIGHTWEIGHT

x-9: Brent Primus
x-6: Gadzhi Rabadanov
x-5: Michael Dufort
x-5: Clay Collard
4: Elvin Espinoza
3: Adam Piccolotti
3: Bruno Miranda
3: Mads Burnell
0: Patricky Freire
-1: Solomon Renfro

***



HEAVYWEIGHT

x-10: Denis Goltsov
x-8: Oleg Popov
x-6: Valentin Moldavsky
x-6: Tim Johnson
5: Daniel James
3: Tyrell Fortune
3: Sergey Bilostenniy
3: Linton Vassell
0: Thiago Santos
0: Danilo Marques
0: Marcelo Golm
-1: Davion Franklin

***



WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT

x-12: Dakota Ditcheva
x-9: Taila Santos
x-7: Liz Carmouche
x-6: Jena Bishop
5: Juliana Velasquez
3: Kana Watanabe
3: Ilara Joanne
0: Chelsea Hackett
0: Lisa Mauldin
-1: Shanna Young

x: Clinched playoff berth