The
Professional Fighters League launched its latest format, the
PFL Challenger Series, which featured eight light heavyweight
contestants competing for a contract on the upcoming Regular
Season.
It took only one perfectly-timed shot from Bruce Souto
to pocket the PFL contract in a fight that was arguably going in
favor of Travis
Davis, a short-notice replacement for Joao
Paulo Fagundes. Souto (15-3, 1-0 PFL) landed a flying knee that
folded Davis (10-6, 0-1 PFL) before finishing the job with a few
follow-up punches. The referee stopped the contest at the 4:43 mark
of Round 1. In addition to the contract, Souto also took home a
$5,000 bonus for his performance.
The headliner featured a clash between former two-division
Legacy Fighting Alliance Joshua
Silveira and Mohamed
Juma. The fighters stormed out of the gate with kicks and
punches landed from each man. Juma looked dangerous on the feet at
first, but Silveira made the most out of his wrestling and
grappling pedigree as time went by, spacing takedowns and
submission attempts to keep his opponent at bay.
Throughout the fight, Silveira had to overcome many fouls from
Juma, including a low blow, a bite, a fish hook and several cage
grabs. The final sequence saw Silveira land a heavy kick before
dragging Juma to the canvas and jumping on his back for a
rear-naked choke attempt. The submission was deep, and Juma was
forced to tap after a few seconds of futile resistance. The
official time was 1:52 of Round 3.
Alexander
Poppeck took on Bellator
MMA and
Dana White’s Contender Series alum Taylor
Johnson. The pair put on a hard-fought contest that saw Johnson
rely on his wrestling to overwhelm Poppeck on the canvas. In his
turn, the German showcased an educated jab and some interesting
boxing combinations. The bout was pretty even going into the third
round, but two solid leg kicks followed by a heavy left hand from
“Tombstone” that briefly shook his foe and almost dropped him.
Poppeck’s subsequent takedown attempt was easily overthrown by
Johnson, who spent the rest of the contest on top of his adversary.
Ultimately, all three cageside judges rewarded Johnson’s efforts
with a well-deserved decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
Relentless takedowns and thudding ground-and-pound earned Karl
Williams (4-1, 1-0 PFL) a unanimous decision over Miles Amos
(5-3, 0-1 PFL), who stepped up on short notice to replace Simeon
Powell. The judges gave 30-27, 30-27 and 30-26 nods to
Williams.