Rory
MacDonald was sure he had done enough. The judges informed him
otherwise.
Gleison
Tibau sprang a stunning upset under the
Professional Fighters League flag, as he took a contentious
split decision from the former Bellator
MMA champion in the
PFL 5 headliner on Thursday at the Ocean Casino Resort in
Atlantic City, New Jersey. All three cageside judges scored it
29-28, two of them siding with Tibau (36-15, 1-1 PFL).
MacDonald (22-7-1, 1-1 PFL) appeared to control a majority of the
action with deft footwork, a sharp jab and front kicks to the body.
He did his best work in Round 1, where he scrambled onto Tibau’s
back and threatened with a rear-naked choke. To his credit, the
American Top Team-trained Brazilian refused to yield to those
advances. Tibau fought through two eye pokes, relied heavily on his
left hand and grew increasingly effective at staving off the
Canadian’s bid for takedowns. It was enough to sway the judges.
Meanwhile, thudding combinations and a soul-stealing clinch carried
Ray
Cooper III to a unanimous decision over Nikolay
Aleksakhin in the three-round welterweight co-main event.
Cooper III (22-7-1, 9-2-1 PFL) swept the scorecards with 30-27,
29-28 and 29-28 nods from the judges.
Aleksakhin (24-5, 1-0 PFL) countered effectively on occasion and
cut loose with his share of heavy artillery, but he failed to
maintain a manageable distance between himself and the determined
Hawaiian. Cooper III pursued the clinch with purpose in the second
and third rounds, mixing takedown attempts with dirty boxing and
effective close-range attacks to the legs and body.
The loss was Aleksakhin’s first since Dec. 16, 2016.
Elsewhere, Nova Uniao’s Emiliano
Sordi settled for a unanimous draw with Dan Spohn in a
three-round light heavyweight feature. All three cageside judges
scored it 28-28, as Sordi’s point deduction for punches to the back
of the head came back to bite him.
Sordi (23-8-1, 7-1-1 PFL) freed himself from a rear-naked choke in
the first round, reversed into top position and unleashed punches
and hammerfists before advancing to the back. From there, he
continued to batter Spohn with punches, a number of them connecting
to the back of the head. As a result, referee Vitor Ribeiro paused
the action and deducted a point from the Argentinian. Both men had
their issues with fatigue—a development that turned their encounter
into an outright slog over the final 10 minutes. Sordi rattled
Spohn with a head kick in the middle stanza and rolled for a late
leg lock, but he lacked the energy necessary to make real headway.
Spohn (18-8-1, 2-3-1 PFL) answered in the third, where his stout
left hand led the way and allowed him to pull even in the
match.
Finally, Chris
Camozzi recorded perhaps the most significant victory of his
41-fight career, as he took a unanimous decision from “The Ultimate
Fighter Brazil” Season 1 winner Cezar
Ferreira in a three-round light heavyweight showcase. All three
cageside judges scored it for Camozzi (26-15, 1-1 PFL): 29-28,
29-28 and 29-27.
Ferreira (14-9, 1-1 PFL) vaulted out to a strong start, as he
paired a first-round takedown with positional control and
ground-and-pound. However, he lost his hold on momentum. Camozzi
floored him with a left hook in the second round, assumed top
position and nearly finished it with ground-and-pound. The Factory
X representative turned up the heat in the third, where he peppered
the Brazilian with a consistent jab, denied his bids for takedowns
and again made his way into an advantageous position on the ground.
Ferreira rallied in the waning seconds, but his efforts proved to
be too little too late.
In other action, Antonio
Carlos Jr. (11-5, 1-0 PFL) landed an accidental knee strike to
the groin, resulting in a no contest with Vinny
Magalhaes (19-12, 5-3 PFL) just 2:45 into the first round of
their light heavyweight confrontation; Cory
Hendricks (8-3, 1-0 PFL) dispatched Marthin
Hamlet (7-2, 1-1 PFL) with a rear-naked choke 4:09 into the third
round of their light heavyweight scrap; Joao
Zeferino (26-9, 5-1 PFL) put away Jason Ponet
(20-14-1, 0-2 PFL) with an arm-triangle choke 2:16 into the second
round of their welterweight clash; Magomed
Magomedkerimov (27-5, 9-0 PFL) submitted Curtis
Millender (18-8, 0-2 PFL) with an Ezekiel choke 1:57 into the first round
of their welterweight encounter; Tom Lawlor
(11-8, 1-1 PFL) laid claim to a unanimous verdict over Jordan
Young (11-2, 0-1 PFL) in a three-round light heavyweight
affair, drawing 30-27 scores from all three judges; and Sadibou Sy
(9-5-2, 3-3-2 PFL) took a unanimous decision from Alexey
Kunchenko (20-3, 0-1 PFL) in a three-round welterweight
pairing, earning 29-28 marks on all three scorecards.