6 Points and the 1st round finish for Bruno
Cappelozza!#2022PFL2
pic.twitter.com/HcBajmTR8W— PFL (@PFLMMA)
April 29, 2022
Bruno
Henrique Cappelozza picked up right where he left off in
2021.
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The defending
Professional Fighters League heavyweight champion turned away
Stuart
Austin with punches in the first round of their
PFL 2 headliner on Thursday at Esports Stadium in Arlington,
Texas. A onetime British Association of Mixed Martial Arts
titleholder, Austin (15-8, 0-2 PFL) checked out 4:24 into Round
1.
Cappelozza (15-5, 5-0 PFL) bided his time and waited for an
opportunity to present itself. A jarring overhand right had Austin
diving at the Brazilian’s legs out of desperation and led to his
being pinned to the canvas. Cappelozza methodically floated from
half guard to full mount, postured in a dominant position and
dropped punches until the job was done.
Meanwhile, former Ring of
Combat champion Chris Wade
rebounded from an Oct. 27 decision defeat to Movlid
Khaybulaev and started his 2022 campaign on the right foot with
a unanimous decision over Lance
Palmer in the three-round featherweight co-main event. All
three cageside judges scored it for Wade (21-7, 9-4 PFL): 30-27,
30-27 and 29-28.
Palmer (22-6, 11-3 PFL) popped the Long Island MMA rep with
clubbing left hands and occasional leg kicks but too often found
himself moving backward in the face of steady aggression. Wade
pressed forward behind a range-finding jab, mixed up his attacks
beautifully and kept the four-time NCAA All-American wrestler
off-balance for much of their 15-minute chess match.
The 34-year-old Palmer will carry a three-fight losing streak into
his next outing.
Elsewhere, Team Nogueira standout Renan
Ferreira melted Jamelle
Jones with a front kick and follow-up punches in the first
round of their heavyweight feature. Jones (12-8, 1-2 PFL) met his
end 25 seconds into Round 1, the unwitting victim in the quickest knockout in
the history of the PFL heavyweight division.
Ferreira (9-2, 3-0 PFL) walked the
Dana White’s Contender Series graduate into a kick that
resulted in shin meeting skull to devastating effect. Jamelle
collapsed downward, ate a burst of power punches and lost his grip
on reality before referee Jacob Montalvo could arrive on the
scene.
The 32-year-old Ferreira has won three fights in a row, two of them
finishes.
Finally, former Absolute Championship Berkut titleholder Denis
Goltsov dispatched Cody
Goodale with punches in the first round of their heavyweight
showcase. Goltsov (28-7, 6-2 PFL) drew the curtain 3:20 into Round
1, as he won for the third time in four appearances.
Goodale (8-6, 0-1 PFL) was out of his depth. Goltsov drew blood
with one of his patented jabs, closed the distance and executed a
trip takedown from the clinch. From there, he maintained top position, cut loose with
ground-and-pound and prompted the stoppage with a volley of
unanswered punches.
It was the 14th first-round finish of Goltsov’s career.
In other action, Brendan
Loughnane (22-4, 5-1 PFL) walked away with a technical
unanimous decision—29-28, 29-28, 29-28—over Ryoji Kudo
(10-3, 0-1 PFL) after an inadvertent clash of heads resulted in a
gash on the Japanese import’s forehead and necessitated a stoppage
3:00 into the third round of their featherweight affair;
Ante
Delija (20-5, 4-2 PFL) put away Matheus
Scheffel (15-8, 0-1 PFL) with punches 59 seconds into the second round of
their heavyweight encounter; Bubba
Jenkins (17-5, 3-1 PFL) captured a unanimous decision over
Kyle
Bochniak (11-6, 0-1 PFL) in a three-round featherweight scrap,
procuring 29-28 marks from all three members of the judiciary;
Klidson
Abreu (16-5, 1-1 PFL) was awarded a unanimous verdict—29-28,
30-27, 30-27—over Adam Keresh
(5-1, 1-1 PFL) in a three-round heavyweight confrontation; Sheymon
Moraes (14-5, 3-1 PFL) took a unanimous decision from Boston
Salmon (8-4, 1-1 PFL) in a three-round featherweight tilt,
drawing 30-27 scores from all three judges; and Alejandro
Flores Garcia (20-3, 2-0 PFL) laid claim to a unanimous
decision—30-27, 30-27, 29-28—over Saba
Bolaghi (14-3-1, 0-1 PFL) in a three-round featherweight
pairing.