Linton
Vassell managed to dig just a little bit deeper.
In his first headlining assignment with the
Professional Fighters League, the Kill Cliff Fight Club
standout scratched, clawed and willed his way to a split decision
over Valentin
Moldavsky atop
PFL 4 on Thursday at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville,
Connecticut. All three cageside judges struck 29-28 scorecards:
Eric
Colon for Moldavsky, Sal D’Amato and Bryan Miner for Vassell
(24-9, 1-1 PFL).
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Moldavsky (13-4, 1-1 PFL) leaned on takedowns, intermittent
ground-and-pound and positional control but ultimately failed to
establish a sense of superiority in the trilogy bout between the
two rivals. Vassell connected with the most significant strike of
the match late in the second round, where he broke free from a
clinch and decked the Fedor
Emelianenko protege with a perfectly timed knee strike on the
break. Otherwise, the two combatants struggled to separate
themselves in a grimy back-and-forth affair.
The 41-year-old Vassell has won six of his past seven bouts and now
holds a 2-1 edge in his head-to-head series with the Russian.
Not all was lost for Moldavsky, as he clinched the No. 3 seed at
heavyweight in the PFL playoffs and moves on to face the
second-seeded Oleg Popov—a
longtime teammate—in the semifinals in August. Popov (18-1, 2-0
PFL) helped himself to three points with a three-round unanimous
decision over Davion
Franklin (7-2, 1-0 PFL) in their regular-season heavyweight
pairing, netting 30-27, 30-27 and 30-25 scores from the cageside
judges.
Meanwhile, American Top Team’s Dakota
Ditcheva kept her perfect professional record intact and did so
in resounding fashion, as she wrecked Chelsea
Hackett with punches in the first round of their women’s
flyweight co-main event.
Hackett (4-3-1, 1-2 PFL) met her end 3:22 into Round 1, losing for
the third time in four appearances.
Ditcheva (12-0, 7-0 PFL) abused the Aussie’s lower extremities with
kicks, sat her down with a clean one-two during one of their
initial standup exchanges and held serve in the clinch. Hackett
went nowhere with her attempted takedowns. Ditcheva backed the Dana
White’s Contender Series alum to the fence under considerable
duress, blasted her with a left hook to the body and ripped way
with punches to the head until the job was done.
The stoppage brought the 25-year-old Ditcheva six points in the
regular-season standings and allowed her to nail down the No. 1
seed at 125 pounds. She next faces the fourth-seeded Jena Bishop
in the semifinal round of the PFL playoffs later this summer.
Further down the bill, former Absolute Championship Akhmat
titleholder Denis
Goltsov took care of “The Ultimate Fighter Brazil” Season 2
quarterfinalist Thiago
Santos with punches in the first round of their heavyweight
showcase. A short-notice substitution for Sergey
Bilostenniy, Santos (22-13, 0-2 PFL) succumbed to blows 2:22
into Round 1.
Goltsov (34-8, 12-3 UFC) clipped the Brazilian with a check hook
inside the first minute, drove into top position, climbed to full
mount under threat of an arm-triangle and eventually wheeled behind
him. Santos briefly stood, only to be dragged back to the canvas.
Goltsov unleashed his ground-and-pound, forced his now-prone
opponent into a defenseless shell and continued the assault until
it was called off.
The victory was Goltsov’s seventh in eight outings and brought the
34-year-old sambo practitioner six more points in the
regular-season standings. He locked up the No. 1 seed with the
stoppage and advances to confront fourth-seeded Tim Johnson
in the semifinal round of the PFL playoffs in August. Johnson
(18-9, 1-0 PFL) banked six points in his promotional debut, as he
overcame a devastating low blow and stopped Danilo
Marques (15-6, 3-2 PFL)
with punches 3:14 into the first round of their regular-season
heavyweight encounter. Finally, reigning Bellator MMA
champion Liz
Carmouche dismissed Kana
Watanabe with an armbar in the third round of their women’s
flyweight feature.
Watanabe (13-3-1, 1-1 PFL) checked out 4:52 into Round
3, suffering the first submission defeat of her
17-fight career.
It was a dogfight up until the finish. They clinched often and
exchanged dominant positions on the ground throughout the first 10
minutes. Watanabe flirted with a deep arm-triangle late in the
middle stanza and gave her counterpart fits with her pressure and
persistence. Carmouche (22-7, 2-0 PFL) turned the tables with power
punches in the third round, where she floored the Japanese judoka
with a right hook-left hook combination and snapped back her head
with a lunging uppercut. Watanabe refused to give in. She powered
into top position midway through Round 3 and hunted another
arm-triangle setup, only to leave a limb exposed. Carmouche rolled
into the armbar, activated her hips, prompted the tapout and exited
the cage with four points in the 125-pound standings.
The 40-year-old Carmouche has won nine fights in a row and now owns
a 2-0 advantage in her head-to-head series with Watanabe, having
punched out the Fighter’s Flow rep in their first meeting back in
June 2021. She also secured the No. 3 seed at 125 pounds and moves
on to meet the second-seeded Taila
Santos in the semifinal round of the PFL playoffs later this
summer. Santos (21-3, 2-0 PFL) collected three points with a
three-round split decision—29-28, 28-29, 29-28—over the
aforementioned Bishop (7-1, 1-1 PFL) in the featured women’s
flyweight prelim.
In other action, Tyrell
Fortune (14-2, 1-0 PFL) walked away with three points, as he
laid claim to a three-round unanimous verdict—30-27, 30-27,
30-26—against Marcelo
Golm (10-6, 0-2 PFL) in their regular-season heavyweight
battle; Ilara
Joanne (12-9, 1-1 PFL) earned three points with a three-round
unanimous decision over Shanna
Young (9-8, 1-2 PFL) in their regular-season women’s flyweight
tilt, drawing 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 marks from the cageside
judges; Juliana
Velasquez (13-3, 1-1 PFL) pocketed five points, as she disposed
of Lisa
Mauldin (6-5, 2-2 PFL)
with punches 1:30 into the second round of their regular-season
women’s flyweight pairing; and Sumiko
Inaba (7-1, 1-0 PFL) eked out a split decision—29-28, 28-29,
29-28—over Saray
Orozco (8-6, 0-1 PFL) in a three-round women’s flyweight
contest.