Things have been tough this season with the efforts of the PFL sophomore students.
On Friday night, at Universal Studios Florida in Orlando, PFL 2 featured the first round of the PFL Bantamweight and Women’s Flyweight tournament.
In the main event, late alternative Marcirley Alves pulled away from a major upset and won the split decision against former Bellator title challenger Leandro Higo. Alves was actually Higo’s second replacement, originally supposed to face Magomedov and Josh Rettinghaus – being to compete in alternative matches on cards before being deemed ineligible on Thursday. Alves made the most of his opportunity, showing off his amazing takedown defense and a quick, powerful strike where Higo had all been extraordinary.
Alves faced qualifying winner Jake Hadley in the next round of the tournament, and while Alves may have won the headliner, “White Kong” stole the show. The former Cage Warriors flyweight champion locked up the Scottish twister in the third round of his battle with Matt Theus Matos. Hadley had a tough run in the UFC, but apparently right the ship in his PFL debut, becoming the second person to land a unique submission in the PFL after Stevie Ray, the most well-known user to be submitted.
In the co-main event, Liz Carmouche did a quick job with Ilala Joanne to advance to the semi-finals of the women’s flyweight tournament. Before the fight, Carmouche told the media it was on her MMA bucket list to get the finish of the body shot, and she did just that, Joanne went on a knee to her body and floored her, then punished her with more shots to get a first round stop.
Carmouche faces Elora Dana, who submitted Diana Avsaragova in the neck crank in the next round in the evening opening game.
Also on the main card, Mando Gutierrez and Justin Wetzell won the opening matches against Francesco Nuzzi and Kasum Kasumov, respectively. Gutierrez submitted a nudge with a naked chalk in the first round, and Wetzel controlled Kasmov for a unanimous decision victory. Gutierrez and Wetzel will face each other in the semi-finals in June.
In the evening’s special reserve match, former Bellator women’s flyweight champion Juliana Velázquez was upset by Ekaterina Shakarova in a dominant way, tapping a naked choke just two minutes into the match.
Shakarova will face Ienavishop, who made a poor decision against Kana Watanabe in the early evening.
Check out the complete PFL 2 results below.
Marcirley Alves def. Leandro Higo (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) by split decision
Liz Carmouche def. Ilara Joanne (punch to knees and body) via TKO – Round 1, 1:25
Send Gutierrez def. Francesco Nuzzi submits (rear choke) – via Round 1, 4:13
Justin Wetzel def. Kasum Kasmov (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) via unanimous decision
Ekaterina Shakalova def. Julianna Velasquez via Sub (rear naked chalk) – Round 1, 2:05
Jake Hadley Deff. Matheus Mattos by Submission (Scottish Twister) – Round 3, 2:16
Ienavishop Def. Watanabe Kana (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) via unanimous decision
Elora Dana def. Diana Avsaragova by Submission (neck crank) – Round 1, 4:48