Two 2021
Professional Fighters League finals are now set after tonight’s
PFL 7 event.
The main event saw PFL’s prized signee Rory
MacDonald go up against promotional mainstay and 2019
welterweight division winner Ray Cooper
III. With a spot in the finals on the line, MacDonald (22-8-1)
came out looking to grapple. However, it was Cooper III (23-7-1)
that wound up taking down “Red King” and locking in an arm-triangle
choke before the round expired. The second and third round was more
of the same as MacDonald had nothing for Cooper III’s wrestling.
All three judges scored the fight 30-27 for Cooper III.
The co-main event was another welterweight semifinal that saw No. 4
seed Magomed
Magomedkerimov faced alternate Sadibou Sy.
Magomedkerimov (28-5) showed off his superior grappling early as he
took down Sy (9-6-2, 1 NC) and then controlled the entire round
while on top. The second frame featured more action on the feet,
but ended on the ground with the Russian on top. After a largely
uneventful Round 3, Magomedkerimov took a unanimous decision with
scores of 30-27 across the board. With the victory, Magomedkerimov
will now face Cooper III in a rematch of the 2018 welterweight
finals that saw the Russian win.
The first PFL lightweight semifinal bout saw No. 1 seed Loik
Radzhabov face fourth-ranked Alex
Martinez. The fight went all three rounds with Radzhabov
(15-3-1) generally controlling the action on the feet and landing
more damaging strikes than Martinez (8-2, 1 NC). All three judges
agreed as Radzhabov was given the nod with scorecards of 30-27,
30-27 and 29-28. With the win, “Jaguar Paw” avenges a split
decision loss to Martinez earlier this year.
In the lightweight finals, Radzhabov will face No. 3 seed Raush
Manfio, who was able to defeat Clay
Collard. This was another bout mostly contested on the feet
with Collard (20-9, 1 NC) being the busier fighter and showing his
pro boxing experience. However, Manfio (14-3) was able to land the
harder shots and was the fresher fighter in Round 3. In the end,
the fight came down to how the second frame was scored and the
judges ultimately preferred the work of Manfio, who earned a
unanimous decision on a trio of 29-28 cards.
In preliminary action, Gleison
Tibau (37-15) picked up
an impressive arm-triangle choke win over Micah
Terrill (15-10, 1 NC) in just 2:17 of action; Olivier
Aubin-Mercier (13-5) picked up a hard-fought decision win over
Darrell
Horcher (14-5) with scores of 29-28, 30-26 and 29-27; Brett
Cooper (28-15) knocked out Tyler Hill
(10-6) with
a barrage of powerful punches at the 2:32 mark of Round 1;
Magomed
Umalatov (11-0) picked up a unanimous decision over Leandro
Silva (25-10-1, 1 NC) with a trio of 29-28 scorecards in his
favor; Michael
Lombardo (12-2, 1 NC) picked up a TKO win via
devastating calf kicks over Kyron Bowen
(9-7); and Elvin
Espinoza (6-0) choked out Hopeton
Stewart (5-2) with
a rear-naked choke at 2:45 of Round 1.