The 2023
Professional Fighters League Regular Season marches on with
2023 PFL 4 at 6:30 p.m. ET. The action airs live on ESPN+ and
then continues on ESPN at 10 p.m. ET.
Round 1
Come hell or high water, the PFL is carrying on its season with a
number of cancellations and historic amount of drug test failures,
with a landscape drastically different than it was mere months ago.
Featherweights and light heavyweights will conclude their regular
season stints tonight, in search of enough points to qualify for
the four-man playoffs. Before those matches begin, the promotion is
plugging in two “showcase” matches at 145 pounds, with the first
between a young man that reached the league through the Challenger
Series in Pergande (2-0, 2-0 PFL) and a 35-year-old company
debutant without a lot of miles on him in Bashir (3-1, 0-0 PFL).
Referee Blake Grice draws the first assignment of the night, and
the fight begins with a touch of gloves. Bashir strikes with a leg
kick, and Pergande immediately answers with a popping one-two. When
Bashir attempts another kick, Pergande greets him with another
one-two down the pipe. Pergande walks through a body kick to open
up with his punches, and he shakes Bashir up with his strikes and
knocks him back to the wall. Pergande closes the distance with a
flying knee, and Bashir escapes out the side and resets. Bashir
settles down and attacks with a body kick and several punches.
Pergande retaliates with a vicious head kick that slams into
Bashir’s head, transforming “The Dream” into a nightmare as he
sends Bashir crashing to the canvas. Pergande leaps on top of the
downed Bashir and pounds on him with ground strikes, and Bashir
clings to his man and ties him up enough to gather his thoughts and
protect himself from getting finished. Pergande’s pace slows down,
as he measures his strikes, looping down with one or two big blows.
Bashir sways to the side as he closes his guard, and Pergande drops
down hammers that occasionally find their target. Pergande postures
up and drills Bashir in the face with several powerful right hands,
and he shifts to side control during the beating.
Bashir explodes to his knees to stand back up, and Pergande follows
him every step of the way and locks down a brabo choke. Pergande
rolls his man all the way over, and he locks up the other arm in
his own legs to prevent Bashir from escaping. As the choke is
securely fastened, Pergande forces Bashir to surrender to the move,
and Grice recognizes the tap and ends the fight. At 22
years of age, Pergande shows off his young but fast-developing
skills with a first-round finish over a man that had not been
stopped before. Pergande puts the promotion on notice that he may
be one that could reach the 2024 tournament by styling on the local
combatant.
The Official Result
Alexei Pergande def. Akeem Bashir R1 3:40 via Submission (Brabo
Choke)
Round 1
Since joining the promotion in 2021, it has been nothing but close
fights and split decisions for Mexico’s Montes (3-2, 1-2 PFL). The
2022 season did not go her way, and this year, down a weight class
at 145 pounds, she is on the outside looking in as this is a
non-tournament matchup. She takes on American Top Team Atlanta’s
Hester (0-0, 0-0 PFL), who will be making her debut in the sport.
The action kicks off with a glove touch, as a clean-shaven referee
Kevin MacDonald watches on. The two start with a wide berth, and
clack their shins together to engage. Montes goes for another low
kick, and Hester respond with a one-two. Hester, the longer
fighter, reaches her opponent with lunging right or left hands.
Montes works her way in with a chopping kick, and Hester is there
to reach her on the way in. Hester intercepts her foe with a sharp
left hand, and she chains several punches into it to drive Montes
to the wall. Hester lets her opponent off the hook and moves back
to the center of the cage, where she prepares her counters in the
form of a check left hook. When she overextends on a punch, Montes
lifts her up and throws her to the mat. As Hester scrambles when
she hits the floor, Montes leaps on top of her and takes her back,
while sliding one hook in. Hester fights the hands to prevent the
full back take, but as she gets smothered by her foe, she finds
herself flattened out. Montes steps over to full mount, and she
batters Hester with ground-and-pound. Hester looks to turn back
over, and she does not slow the onslaught of punches from the
Mexican fighter.
Montes keeps on beating down Hester with unanswered fists, again
turning her over to her stomach and flattening her out once and for
all. With Montes showing no signs of slowing down, MacDonald has no
choice but to step in and call a halt to the match, with Hester not
intelligently defending herself and just taking
damage. This win for the woman nicknamed “Brave” is
her first via strikes since 2021, and it is the first time she has
gotten someone out of there in the first round. It’s anyone’s guess
as to what next year’s women’s tournament(s) will hold, or if
Montes has done enough to get a second look, but it sure didn’t
hurt her chances.
The Official Result
Abigail Montes def. Brandy Hester R1 3:06 via TKO (Punches)
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
The Official Result
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
The Official Result
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
The Official Result
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
The Official Result
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
The Official Result
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
The Official Result
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
The Official Result
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
The Official Result
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
The Official Result
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Edwin Ayala scores the round: