Kayla
Harrison has the look of a runaway train in the
Professional Fighters League.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist dispatched Cindy
Dandois with an armbar in the first round of their
PFL 6 headliner on Friday at the Ocean Casino Resort in
Atlantic City, New Jersey. Just the second woman to submit the
Belgian in mixed martial arts competition, Harrison (10-0, 9-0 PFL)
brought it to a close 4:44 into Round 1.
Dandois (16-7, 0-2 PFL) never presented much of a threat. Harrison
assumed top position after a failed takedown attempt from the
“Battlecat,” advanced to side control and applied the heavy
ground-and-pound for which she has become known. She eventually
stood above Dandois, connected with a sweeping left hand and
achieved full mount with roughly a minute remaining in the first
round. Harrison went to work with punches once more, sat back on
the armbar and prompted the tapout.
Meanwhile, former Titan Fighting Championship titleholder Raush
Manfio sprang the upset and captured a split decision from
Anthony
Pettis in the lightweight co-main event. All three judges
struck 29-28 scorecards, two of them siding with Manfio (13-3, 2-0
PFL).
The first two rounds were closely contested, with neither man
gaining a discernible advantage. Manfio hit the accelerator in the
third, where he drove the Roufusport standout to the canvas with a
multi-punch burst inside the first minute. He allowed Pettis to
stand, then let punches fly with both hands, pinned “Showtime” to
the fence and floored him with a close-range knee strike. Manfio
flurried in a bid to finish, then eased off the gas once it became
clear his opponent had recovered. Pettis (24-12, 0-2 PFL) responded
with leg kicks and chopping right hands but failed to exact enough
damage to curry the necessary favor with two of the judges.
Manfio has rattled off five wins across his last six outings.
Elsewhere, Movlid
Khaybulaev kept his perfect professional record intact with a
unanimous decision over two-time defending PFL champion Lance
Palmer in a three-round lightweight feature. All three cageside
judges scored it the same: 29-28 for the undefeated Khaybulaev
(17-0-1, 3-0-1 PFL).
Palmer (22-5, 11-2 PFL) landed on occasion, often in single
strikes, and even knocked the Khabib
Nurmagomedov protégé off-balance with a counter left hook in
the first round. However, Khaybulaev altered the direction of the
match in the middle stanza, where he engaged the four-time NCAA
All-American wrestler in the clinch and flexed his superiority in
the grappling exchanges. He spent the final five minutes dictating
terms with his standup, as he uncorked combinations with his hands,
delivered a few low kicks and cut loos with the occasional spinning
attack.
The 33-year-old Palmer has lost back-to-back bouts for the first
time in his career.
Finally, former Absolute Championship Berkut titleholder Denis
Goltsov put away Brandon
Sayles with punches in the third round of their heavyweight
showcase. Sayles (6-2, 1-1 PFL) succumbed to blows 1:24 into Round
3, suffering his first defeat in more than nine years.
After a slow start, Goltsov (27-6, 5-1 PFL) found another gear in
the second round. There, he softened Sayles with devastating jabs
and low kicks, executed a trip takedown, climbed to full mount and
threatened with multiple Ezekiel chokes. While his efforts did not
produce a finish, they bled Sayles’ gas tank dry. Goltsov followed
a two-punch combination with a head kick to the face early in Round
3. He then swooped in for another takedown against the
fading Hawaiian, assumed a dominant position at the base of the
fence and unleashed his ground-and-pound until the deal was
sealed.
Goltsov, 30, has won eight of his last nine fights.
In other action, Bruno
Henrique Cappelozza (12-5, 2-0 PFL) blew away Muhammed
DeReese (8-4, 3-4 PFL) with punches and a follow-up head kick 2:21 into the
first round of their featured heavyweight prelim; Larissa
Pacheco (15-4, 4-2 PFL) waylaid Helena
Kolesnyk (5-4, 0-2 PFL) with a one-punch knockout 4:48 into the first round
of their women’s lightweight match; Ante Delija
(18-4, 2-1 PFL) dismissed Chandler
Cole (8-3, 0-1 PFL) with punches 4:39 into the first round of their
heavyweight battle; Genah
Fabian (4-1, 3-1 PFL) wiped out Julija
Pajic (3-2, 0-2 PFL) with punches 4:16 into the second round of their
women’s lightweight scrap; Renan
Ferreira (7-2, 1-0 PFL) laid claim to a unanimous verdict over
Carl
Seumanutafa (12-13, 0-3 PFL) in a three-round heavyweight
encounter, drawing 30-26 scores across the board; Taylor
Guardado (2-1, 2-0 PFL) took a unanimous decision from Laura
Sanchez (1-2, 0-2 PFL) in a three-round women’s lightweight
affair, earning 30-27 marks from all three judges; Jamelle
Jones (11-6, 1-0 PFL) put away Klidson
Abreu (15-5, 0-1 PFL) with hammerfists 1:43 into the first round of their
heavyweight pairing; and Mariana
Morais (17-11, 1-1 PFL) eked out a split decision—30-27, 28-29,
29-28—over Kaitlin
Young (12-11-1, 1-1 PFL) in a three-round women’s lightweight
tilt.