Valentin
Moldavsky’s finishes may be rare, but they’re electric.

The former Bellator
MMA heavyweight surged onto the
Professional Fighters League scene with a first-round TKO win
over 2022 PFL king Ante Delija
in the
2024 Season Opener main event on Thursday at Boeing Center in
San Antonio, Texas.

Moldavsky hasn’t finished an opponent since 2018 but wasted little
time taking out Delija. With a body kick midway through the first
round,
Moldavsky stunned the former champ and pounced until the fight
was stopped (2:17). With the win, Moldavsky picked up six points
and is headed to the top of the PFL playoff standings.

Denis
Goltsov took his first step back toward the PFL heavyweight
crown after TKOing former Bellator title contender Linton
Vassell in the third round (3:11). Goltsov was worked over for
most of the opening period but turned the tide once Vassell’s
energy ran out in the second. Neither man could barely stand, but

Goltsov found enough energy to push for the finish. With the
win, Goltsov (33-8) got back on track and picked up a vital four
points in the heavyweight standings. Vassell suffered his first
loss since 2019.

Liz
Carmouche has had Juliana
Velasquez’s number since Velasquez was the former Bellator
flyweight queen. Carmouche took her title, beat her again, and just
went up 3-0 on Velasquez for good measure.

Carmouche (21-7) shined in her SmartCage debut with a gritty
unanimous decision win over Velasquez. After being upstaged by
Taila
Santos and Dakota
Ditcheva’s first-round finishes, Carmouche blitzed Velasquez at
the start of each round before settling into a clinch-heavy attack.
Carmouche dominated on the ground and nearly caught Velasquez with
an armbar in Round 2. Unfortunately for Carmouche, she wasn’t able
to break through Velasquez’s guard and was forced to settle for
three points.

Ditcheva ran through the PFL Europe circuit last year, but now the
Manchester, England, native has her eyes set on the world stage.
The 25-year-old phenom made a statement win of the tournament with
a first-round demolition of PFL Challenger Series alum Lisa
Mauldin.

Ditcheva (11-0) looked like the best striker in the field during
her win. Using teeps and leg kicks, Ditcheva controlled distance
and kept Mauldin’s back against the cage. With her distance and
timing set,
Ditcheva pieced Mauldin up with hard combinations before
knocking her down and out with a vicious body shot. Post-fight,
Ditcheva let it be known that she fears nobody in the bracket and
that more punishment awaits whoever faces her next. “I don’t care
who I get,” she said. “I’m going to win anyway, so give me
anyone.”

Daniel
James is going to haunt Marcelo
Golm’s dreams for a long time. In their first meeting last
year, Golm controlled most of the fight before James rallied to
knock him out in the third round. One year later, Golm expected to
fight Tyrelle Fortune but on three days‘ notice, found out that
he’d get the chance to avenge his loss to James.

Like the first fight, Golm took James down quickly and dominated
near the fence. Golm was on his way to a 10-8 round before James
walked the cage and reversed the 264-pound Brazilian. Sensing the
urgency,
James pummeled Golm with his right-hand before the fight was
stopped with one second left in the round (4:59). With the win,
James (15-7-1, 1 NC) picked up only five points in the standings
because he came in with a 1-point penalty after missing weight (267
pounds).

Heavyweight sluggers Blagoy
Ivanov and Sergey
Bilostenniy brought the bombs into their heavyweight slugfest.
After three back-and-forth rounds that left both men exhausted,
Bilostenniy’s hands were raised in victory via unanimous decision
(29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

Bilostenniy (12-3) came over from Bellator and picked up his second
straight win against the former UFC fighter. Using a stiff jab,
Bilostenniy controlled the distance and got the better of Ivanov on
the outside but ate a lot of leather on the inside. By the end of
the second round, both men were hunched over, hands on knees, and
gasping for breath. That wouldn’t stop them from leaving it on the
line and producing one of the best fights of the night.

Former
Ultimate Fighting Championship title challenger Santos cemented
herself as an early favorite to win the women’s flyweight $1
million grand prize after cruising to a first-round finish over
Ilara
Joanne. Santos (20-3) is known for her heavy hands (10
knockouts), but the Brazilian showed she can counter well against
the aggressive Joanne.

After cracking her with a left hand,
Santos effortlessly took Joanne to the mat and threatened her with
an array of submission attempts. All Joanne could do was
scramble and squirm until Santos eventually sunk in a rear-naked
choke for the six-point finish.

Oleg
Popov (17-1) surrendered a seven-inch height disadvantage to
the 6-foot-8 heavyweight Steve
Mowry, but it didn’t matter. After getting off to a slow start,

Popov defended his 14-fight win streak with a second-round TKO
(3:47) win.

Mowry (10-2-1, 1 NC) is a skilled grappler who’s finished six
opponents by submission. He took Popov’s back early, but the
Russian made him work on the ground. By the start of the second
period, Mowry’s gas tank was depleted, and there was little the

Kill Cliff FC standout could do to hold off Popov. Popov took
Mowry to the mat and trapped his arm in a crucifix. Popov reigned
down punches with his left hand free until referee Kerry Hatley was
forced to intervene.

Kana
Watanabe is an underrated contender in the women’s flyweight
tournament. A former Bellator world title challenger, Watanabe has
only lost twice and could be a frustrating matchup to anybody in
the field. Shanna
Young learned this the hard way after she was dominated en
route to a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

Watanabe landed over 40 more strikes and took Young down six times
throughout the fight. She never found the finish but Watanabe’s
maturity allowed her to control the pace throughout. Watanabe has
already faced Carmouche, Joanne and Denise
Kielholtz, so her experience in this tournament makes her a
threat.

Former Bellator prospect Jena Bishop
left a definitive statement in her PFL debut after submitting
Chelsea
Hackett via armbar in the opening stanza (4:45). Bishop, 38, is
a former International Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu Federation No-Gi world
champion and she had little trouble walking down Hackett.

Despite being a former muay thai world champion, Hackett (4-2, 1
NC) cautiously circled the cage while Bishop (7-0) closed the
distance. It was just a matter of time before she got snatched.

Bishop rode Hackett’s back before eventually closing the show with
a nasty armbar. With the win, Bishop picked up three points and
received an additional three points for the first-round finish.

There was no place like home for San Antonio native Dimitre Ivy
on Thursday night. Ivy (13-7) won the biggest fight of his career
in front of hometown fans after upsetting previously unbeaten
Lucas
Brennan by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

Ivy dropped Brennan (9-1) early and controlled the first round with
his explosive combinations. Brennan took Ivy’s back and threatened
a rear-naked choke in the second to tie up the fight. The final
round wasn’t as explosive, but Brennan spent most of the period
with his back pinned against the cage in part to Ivy’s strength in
the clinch.

Undefeated bantamweight Bryce
Meredith opened the preliminary card against scrappy grappler
Ty
Johnson. Meredith, a former three-time NCAA Division I
All-American wrestler, showcased his punching power early by
dropping Johnson in the first round, but the finish eluded
MMA Lab prospect.

Johnson (13-7) entered the fight on a seven-fight win streak and
didn’t let go of it easily. Johnson threatened Meredith’s heel all
fight but never sank in the lock. Despite Johnson’s persistence,
Meredith’s power and ground control separated the two on the
scorecards. Meredith improved to 6-0 by unanimous decision (30-27,
30-27, 30-27).

IMAK ADMIN

By IMAK ADMIN

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