Two-time
Professional Fighters League women’s lightweight champion
Kayla
Harrison was dominant once again, but her performance in the
PFL 3 Regular Season main event on Friday wasn’t up to snuff
and she was blunt about it.
Still, Harrison won virtually every second of her contest against
Marina
Mokhnatkina (6-3) and took home three points in the PFL women’s
lightweight season bracket, winning a lopsided unanimous decision
along the way. Harrison landed a few takedowns in the fight and
dished out more than enough punishment on the feet, but Mokhnatkina
was slick and continuously tried rolling the two-time Olympic gold
medal-winning judoka into various leg locks.
Harrison never truly had Mokhnatkina in any serious peril, but she
nullified every attack the Miami-based fighter tried. As the fight
wore away, it was obvious that Harrison was frustrated and tried
scoring a stoppage late, but Mokhnatkina was hip to her attacks and
survived. All three judges saw it 30-27 for Harrison, who improved
to 13-0 in her MMA career.
Ray
Cooper III has won the PFL’s welterweight crown and was hoping
to add to his legacy with a win to begin 2022. Unfortunately, he
ran into a buzzsaw in Carlos
Leal Miranda, who took it to the Hawaiian for three rounds.
Cooper III (24-8-1) never got anything going offensively and seemed
to be sleepwalking for much of the bout, even after Miranda cracked
him with thunderous punches and kicks. Miranda (17-3) had “Bradda
Boy” hurt badly with punches in the second, but the Brazilian
couldn’t put him away. It wasn’t until the final minute or so of
the third before Cooper III woke up and let his hands go, but it
was too little too late; Miranda already more than enough damage.
Miranda won via tallies of 30-26, 30-27 and 29-27 to nab three
points in the PFL welterweight season.
Former
Ultimate Fighting Championship and
World Extreme Cagefighting lightweight champion Anthony
Pettis was disgusted with how his 2021 campaign in the PFL
unfolded and has been determined to turn back to the clock to his
glory days in 2022. On Friday, “Showtime” looked like his old self
with a textbook performance and submission of Ireland’s Myles Price,
ending the fight late in the first. Price (11-8) missed a takedown
attempt moments into the fight and Pettis dominated him from that
point forward. The majority of the contest took place on the canvas
and that’s where it ended, as
Pettis seized momentum and locked in top-side triangle choke. Price
bowed out at the 4:17 mark and the first-round submission finish
gave Pettis (25-12) the full six points in the PFL’s lightweight
bracket.
Former Bellator
MMA welterweight champion and UFC welterweight title challenger
Rory
MacDonald barely broke a sweat against Brett
Cooper as he subbed the Tennessee-based fighter in the opening
round. MacDonald (23-8-1) ducked under a left hook and scored a
textbook single-leg takedown and from there, “The Red King” moved
from side control to mount and then to Cooper’s back. Cooper
(28-16) couldn’t escape and
once the Canadian sunk in the rear-naked choke, he tapped out.
The end came officially at the 2:23 mark of the first, giving
MacDonald six points in the PFL welterweight division.
Larissa
Pacheco has been obsessed with getting a third match with
defending PFL lightweight queen Harrison and she took the proper
steps in achieving that goal on Friday to kick off the main card.
Pacheco (16-4) absolutely hammered the overmatched Zamzagul
Fayzallanova in just 85 seconds as the Brazilian landed a
plethora of right hands to the head. Fayzallanova (7-2-1) tried to
fend her off, but
Pacheco was on fire and kept punching until Fayzallanova collapsed
and had to be rescued by referee Kerry Hatley. Pacheco nabbed
the maximum six points for her first-round TKO win.
Veteran Joao
Zeferino (26-10) was upset on Friday as last-minute replacement
Dilano
Taylor was awarded a split decision win over three rather
uneventful three rounds. Taylor (9-1) stuffed several takedown
attempts from the Brazilian and landed a few decent punches on the
feet, but it appeared as though Zeferino did enough to win.
However, two of the cage side judges felt that Taylor’s tactical
approach was the difference and gave him the fight 29-28 while the
third official turned in the same score for Zeferino. The win gave
Taylor three points in the PFL welterweight division.
Genah
Fabian scored one of the biggest wins of her MMA career by
taking a unanimous decision win over longtime veteran Julia Budd
(16-4). After a very close opening two rounds, Fabian (5-2) wound
up on top near the end of the fight after a clinch and scramble,
and landed several punches from the position. The transition and
attacks were more than enough to seal the Canadian’s fate as
Fabian, from New Zealand, won via scores of 29-28 across the board.
While Fabian did get the win, she received no points in the PFL’s
lightweight bracket because she missed weight on Thursday.
Conversely, Budd, while she didn’t win, was given three points
automatically because her opponent came in too heavy on the
scale.
Sweden’s Sadibou Sy
(10-6-2, 1 NC) did just enough to slip past Nikolay
Aleksakhin over three rounds. Sy used a very cautious,
counter-striking attack to keep Aleksakhin (24-7, 1 NC) at bay,
leaving much to be desired in terms of action. Sy won via tallies
of 30-27, 29-28 and 28-29 to earn three points in the PFL’s
welterweight bracket.
Longtime veteran Gleison
Tibau was upset by Jarrah
Al-Silawi in a welterweight encounter via split decision. Tibau
(38-15) was the aggressor throughout, throwing punches from all
angles when he could, but Al-Silawi countered him regularly with
jabs and low kicks. However, it was a takedown in the third for the
Brazilian as he landed several punches from on top to close out the
fight that nearly turned the tables on the scorecards. Tibau’s late
surge wasn’t enough, though, as the Jordanian was awarded the
judges’ nod with scores of 29-28 (twice) and 27-30. The win
garnered three points for Al-Silawi (18-3) in the PFL welterweight
bracket.
Lightweight Helena
Kolesnyk improved to 6-4 (1 NC) with a skin-tight split
decision win over Abigail
Montes. Kolesnyk landed arguably the better strikes throughout
their contest, but Mexicao’s Montes (3-1) was slightly more
aggressive and accurate with her punches. The fight was as close as
they come, but two judges favored the Ukrainian 30-27 and 29-28,
while the odd judge out saw it 29-28 for Montes. The win gives
Kolesnyk three points in the PFL lightweight bracket.
The Czech Republic’s Martina
Jindrova opened the event with an impressive and dominant
unanimous decision win over Brazil’s Vanessa
Melo. Jindrova (5-2) used her size and reach to keep Melo
(11-9) at bay and picked her apart with jabs, right crosses and
scattered kicks to the body and legs. Jindrova won via lopsided
unanimous decision via tallies of 30-27 across the board to earn
three points in the PFL women’s lightweight division.