Heavyweight Denzel
Freeman is the latest fighter to earn a
Professional Fighters League contract despite being quite low
on the final card for the 2023 PFL Challenger Series.
WELCOME TO THE PFL DENZEL FREEMAN!#PFLonFubo
pic.twitter.com/5QRQzxHNI4— PFL (@PFLMMA)
March 18, 2023
St. Louis Controls Laia
The
Week 8 main event saw Kendly St.
Louis take on
Paulo Henrique Laia in what was supposed to be a lightweight
fight but St. Louis (9-4) missed weight. It was St. Louis that
found an early advantage as his wrestling allowed him to control
Laia (14-7) on the ground. This laid the framework that would be
followed for the rest of the fight as the second and third rounds
saw St. Louis firmly in control while never coming super close to a
finish.
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As expected, St. Louis took a unanimous decision win with scores of
30-27 across the board.
Martins Stifles Cataline
The lone women’s bout on the card saw Jackie
Cataline take on fellow featherweight Evelyn
Martins. While it was Cataline (3-2) who first found an advantage on the
feet with her punches, a flurry of leg kicks by Martins (4-0)
turned the fight in her favor. With her opponent’s leg heavily
damaged, Martins was able to further widen the gap on the feet. The
third round was more of the same as Cataline’s movement was
compromised.
After 15 minutes, the judges awarded a unanimous decision to
Martins with scores of 29-28 across the board.
Freeman Smokes Kovacs
Denzel
Freeman made a statement to the PFL heavyweight division and
earned a contract while doing so.
Freeman (4-0) started his fight against Raiden
Kovacs by
landing a beautiful high kick that knocked his opponent down. While
Kovacs (0-1) looked to grab an arm and did get guard to recover, it
was to no avail. Freeman simply kept striking until a
TKO was secured.
The fight was stopped after just 27 seconds.
Omar Outstrikes Sadeck
The first fight of the night was in the welterweight division and
saw two newcomers make their PFL debut.
Both fighters looked to show off their striking in a back-and-forth
first round that saw Ali Omar show
off a bit more variety in his offense than Sanon
Sadeck. The second frame saw a lot more grappling by Sadeck
(3-2), who was able to have more success by clinching against the
cage. The third round would see Sadeck take the back of Omar (5-2),
although the American had a slight edge on the feet.
After three rounds of action, the judges awarded a split decision
to Sanon with scores of 28-29, 29-28 and 30-27.