THE HOMETOWN KID
Bryan Battle defeats Dalton Rosta by split decision 💪#PFLCharlotte
| Main Card LIVE NOW on ESPN pic.twitter.com/LowJZarCyY— PFL (@PFLMMA)
August 8, 2026
The
Professional Fighters League had six of its ranked middleweight
fighters on display during the talent-rich
PFL Charlotte card.
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The three-round main event saw Charlotte’s own Bryan
Battle take on Dalton
Rosta in a pivotal middleweight contest for both men. Rosta
(11-4) immediately set the pace and kept the hometown favorite
against the cage before securing a takedown in a largely uneventful
first round. Battle (13-3, 1 NC) started to find success in the
second frame, with some heavy punches and leg kicks finding their
mark, but „Hercules“ still managed to take the fight to the ground.
The final round saw „The Butcher“ fight more aggressively, coming
forward with solid punches and body kicks, and managed to stuff the
takedowns of American Top Team’s Rosta.
After 15 minutes, the judges awarded Battle a split-decision
victory with scores of 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28. The 31-year-old is
now 1-1 inside the promotion after losing his debut to Johnny
Eblen. Battle said he wanted to stay busy and fight again soon
after the victory.
In the co-main event, light heavyweights Dovletdzhan
Yagshimuradov and Simeon
Powell clashed in a battle between a tested veteran and
up-and-coming prospect. The explosiveness of Powell (13-2) was on
full display late in the first round, when he landed a flush flying
knee that „Wolfhound“ was able to eat. Yagshimuradov (26-9-1) was
game throughout, but was simply outworked by the English striker,
who is 10 years younger. „Smooth“ used his sharp punches to cruise
to a baffling split decision after scores of 30-27, 28-29 and 30-27
were read.
In a featured middleweight matchup, Joshua
Silveira faced former Bellator standout Aaron
Jeffery. Canada’s Jeffery (17-6) used his superior wrestling
and clinch work to consistently pressure „Coninha.“ While Silveira
(15-6) had his moments on the feet when at range, he was never able
to put it together for an extended period and had to survive a
number of submission attempts. After 15 minutes of action, Jeffery
took home a one-sided decision win with scores of 30-27, 30-27 and
30-26 in his favor.
Fighting less than a month after being submitted by Rafael
do Nascimento, Lewis
McGrillen-Evans returned against Brandon
Lewis in a bantamweight fight. The English striker landed heavy
punches that bloodied the face of Lewis (7-4), who didn’t live up
to his „Superman“ nickname despite delivering a nasty cut above the
right eyebrow of „The McGrizzla.“ Instead, McGrillen-Evans (13-2)
proved to be the more well-rounded fighter, taking a unanimous
decision after earning scores of 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.
More PFL Charlotte results:
Josh
Fremd finished Jhony
Gregory with
a flurry of punches that forced the referee to come in at 1:44
of the second round; Denis
Goltsov clobbered Hasan
Mezhiev with a
head kick and punches just 52 seconds into the fight; Cheyanne
Bowers submitted Elora Dana
with a
rear-naked choke at 3:36 of the first frame; Landry Ward
earned a split decision versus Michael
Boylan with judges putting in sores of 30-27, 28-29 and 30-27;
Bruno
Cappelozza won a unanimous decision against Valentin
Moldavsky with scores of 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28; Jonathan
Martin took a unanimous decision over Wilson
Lopshire with scores of 30-26, 30-25 and 30-27 in his favor;
Maxwell
Djantou Nana finished Eduardo
Neves with
a punch to the body at 2:01 of Round 3; and in the opener,
Trey
Waters blitzed Trukon
Carson with
punches and elbows at 4:37 of the first round.