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Francesco
Nuzzi is a man on a mission.

In the
PFL Europe 2: 2023 Regular Season main event, Nuzzi clobbered
Farbod
Iran Nezhad to secure a place in the 135-pound semifinals.
Nezhad (11-3-1, 0-1 PFL) attempted to move the action to the canvas
earlier in the fight, but Nuzzi (10-1, 1 NC; 1-0, 1 NC PFL) was
able to deny him and bounce back on the feet. The Italian fighter
tested his foe’s reactions for a while before firing a head kick
hidden by a left punch. The impact was devastating, and Nezhad
collapsed immediately. Referee Rich
Mitchell jumped to save Nezhad from Nuzzi’s subsequent punches
as the official time indicated the 1:52 mark of Round 1. Nuzzi will
now face Bellator MMA alum Frans
Mlambo (14-5, 1-0 PFL), who overcame short-notice replacement
Rachid
El Hazoume Aamay (9-3, 0-1 PFL) via majority decision (29-27,
29-27, 28-28) in a 137-pound catchweight bout.

In the co-headliner, Khurshed
Kakhorov secured a place in the semifinals of the bantamweight
tournament after teaching Moktar
Benkaci a striking lesson. Kakhorov (10-1, 1-0 PFL) made the
most of his quick hands with shots to the head and body of his foe,
finishing his combinations with leg kicks. Benkaci (20-8, 2 NC;
0-1, 1 NC PFL) — who missed weight the day before and started with
a point deduction according to promotional rules — struggled to
keep the pace and had no answer to contrast his opponent’s
offensive. “Killer” stung from afar with his jab throughout the
fight, exposing Benkaci’s defense. With 20 seconds left into the
clash, Kakhorov attempted a last foray, but it wasn’t enough to
finish “Le Kabyle.” After the bout went the distance, the cage
announcer revealed 30-26, 30-26, and 30-25 scorecards for
Kakhorov.

Elsewhere, Griet
Eeckhout (7-4-1, 1-0 PFL) outpointed Lorena
Cubero (3-1, 0-1 PFL) on all scorecards (30-27, 30-27, 30-25)
en route to a unanimous decision at women’s flyweight; 135-pounder
Ali
Taleb (9-0, 2-0 PFL) wobbled Kenji
Bortoluzzi (11-5, 0-1 PFL) with punches at 3:26 of Round 1; and
John
Mitchell (7-1, 1-0 PFL) upended Geisym
Derouiche (6-3, 0-1 PFL) on all scorecards (30-27, 30-27,
30-27) en route to a unanimous decision victory at lightweight; in
a 160-pound catchweight.

In other action, Aleksandrs
Chizovs (10-1-1, 1-0-1 PFL) vs. Acoidan
Duque (16-4-1, 1 NC; 0-0-1 PFL) ended in a unanimous draw
(28-28, 28-28, 28-28), with Duque being deducted a point after
missing weight the day before; Lewis
McGrillen-Evans (6-0, 2-0 PFL) knocked out Amrali
Saidoshurov (8-6, 0-1 PFL) with a heavy punch 12 seconds into
the second period of their 135-pound affair; 155-pounder Dylan Tuke
(6-3, 1-0 PFL) handed Connor
Hughes (7-1, 0-1 PFL) the first loss of his career via
unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28); Jakub
Kaszuba (9-0, 1-0 PFL) forced Radu Maxim
(10-2, 1-0 PFL) to tap to a tight rear-naked choke at 3:18 of the
first stanza at lightweight; 155-pounder Anatolij
Baal (10-3-1, 1NC; 1-0 PFL) smashed Sebastian
Santana Guedes (8-6-1, 1NC; 0-1 PFL) with punches at 4:16 of
the second period; in a women’s featherweight clash, Christina
Breuer (1-0, 1-0 PFL) crushed Ruby Mesu
(0-1, 0-1 PFL) with punches and knees at the 3:12 mark of Round 2.

IMAK ADMIN

By IMAK ADMIN

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