Phil Davis returned to the PFL 4 victory column on Thursday night, this time with a knockout.
Former Bellator Champion has recorded his first finish since October 2019, beating Rob Wilkinson in the first round of the promotional 205-pound tournament.
Davis was followed by a one-two combo and a body kick, and immediately threatened Wilkinson as he rushed forward. Wilkinson surprised Davis with his right hand late in round one, but Davis returned to the second round to get him to pay.
“Mr. Wonderful” held the right hand, which Wilkinson temporarily backed up, and Davis doubled it with another hand that dropped the former PFL champion. Davis kept punching down until the judge saw enough, ending the second round of fight for Davis’ first knockout since stopping Carl Albrexon at Bellator 231 on October 25, 2019.
Davis will face Sullivan Corey in the next semi-final after “Sully” finishes his last minute replacement. Polizzi, who replaced Marcelo Nunes on the day of the fight, was immediately shot for a takedown. Polizzi had long insisted on its position against the cage, so in just 96 seconds, he opened a window for Cauley to drop his evil elbow to the side of his head for a TKO stop.
On the other side of the light heavyweight bracket, one-off PFL season champion Antonio Carlos Jr. advanced to face Simeon Powell in his second semi-final contest.
“Shoeface” wasted time getting Karl Moore to the ground on one foot, working from the half guard before allowing Moore to stand up. But before he could, the Brazilian landed an illegal knee on his head while Moore was still on the ground. After watching the replay, the judge decided to have a “severe warning” instead of the point deduction.
After Junior complained of a low hit, Round 2 also needed a replay. The video showed that the knees were legal and action resumed. Junior worked at half guard for the rest of the round and held a good right hand in place before securing another one-foot takedown. Moore needed a finish on the third time and achieved some success against the exhausted junior, but was unable to stop the Brazilian. Ultimately, juniors were advanced by split decisions.
Powell won the semi-finals place by dismantling Carl Albrexon in the second round of the match. Albrektsson got off to a better start in the match and tied up better shots, but Powell got attention with a good elbow from the clinch in the final seconds. Round 2 begins, and Powell returns to the elbow with a clinch and destroys Albrectson for a knockout victory.
Heavyweight Set set Valentin Morduvsky, Alexander Romanov
The joint main event of PFL 4 saw heavyweight quarter clashes between former interim berator champion Valentin Mordenki and Russia’s Sergei Bilostiny. Aside from a quick pause in the opening round when the lights went out mid-fight, Moldavsky and Bilostenniy increased their crazy pace for the heavyweights.
Moldavsky was quickly tagged as Bilostenniy temporarily injured his leg and rushed for a finish. Moldavsky was injured and Bilostenniy fired a series of punches that he couldn’t get the job done. The stand-up battle continued in round two, but Moldavsky changed his game plan for the final five minutes and chose to clinch, but did not pursue a strong strike or takedown. They went far, and all three judges won 29-28 in favor of Moldavski.
Moldavsky will face Alexandr Romanov in the semi-finals after quickly beating Tim Johnson, a native of Moldova, in the UFC veteran battle. The heavyweight duo had been swapping with their feet when Johnson was trapped in a standing guillotine choke. Romanov held his position, turning Johnson towards the cage and literally lifting him off the ground and making a quick tap to win his 11th victory of submission as an expert.
On the other side of the heavyweight tournament field, UFC veteran Rodrigo Nascimento delved deep into the semi-finals in his PFL debut, currently facing Oleg Popov.
Abraham Beye took the Brazilian’s attention and ruled the opening round with Nascimento with a heavy punch that attacked the body with a clinch. Baset slowed the pace at the second and third, but blood was flowing from Nascimento’s nose. However, Nascimento nodded on two of the three scorecards, connecting a more effective punch.
Popov took his way to the semi-finals with Karl Williams and worked on Takedowns’ attempts in the first round, but managed to defeat Williams in the final seconds. Williams managed to defend his shot in the next round, but struggled to get free from the threat in the final 10 minutes. Williams pieced together a better strike, but the judges declared Popov the winner with a split decision to become 20-2 professionally.
Click here for full PFL 4 results.