The assault was felonious in nature.
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla
Harrison dispatched Martina
Jindrova with
a first-round arm-triangle choke, as their
Professional Fighters League women’s lightweight semifinal
headlined
PFL 9 on Saturday at Copper Box Arena in London. Jindrova (6-3,
3-1 PFL) capitulated 3:17 into Round 1, the latest victim of the
PFL’s runaway freight train.
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Harrison (15-0, 14-0 PFL) caught a kick from the Czech, dumped her
to the mat and immediately transitioned to side control. She
softened Jindrova with ground-and-pound, climbed to full mount and
pounded away with punches. Harrison fished briefly for an armbar,
then clamped down on the arm-triangle and elicited the tapout. It
was a flawless performance.
The win pushed Harrison into the 2022 lightweight final, where she
will seek her third consecutive league championship and another $1
million payday against Larissa
Pacheco on Nov. 25. Pacheco (18-4, 7-2 PFL) buried Helena
Kolesnyk with
punches in the first round of their featherweight
semifinal. Kolesnyk (7-5, 2-3 PFL) succumbed to blows
2:09 into Round 1, her two-fight winning streak having run its
course.
From the start, there was an air of inevitability about the
outcome. Pacheco connected with an overhand right behind a
partially blocked head kick, moved into open space and went about
stalking her prey. She eventually pinned Kolesnyk to the fence,
forced the Ukrainian to exchange and folded her with a left hook.
Pacheco then followed with a burst of punches on her crouched
counterpart, prompting the stoppage.
Pacheco will carry a five-fight winning streak into the tournament
final.
Meanwhile, constant stance switches, a surgical jab and punishing
right hands spurred Brendan
Loughnane to a unanimous decision over Chris Wade in
their emotionally charged featherweight semifinal. All three
cageside judges struck 30-27 scorecards for Loughnane (24-4, 7-1
PFL), who has won three straight bouts.
Wade (22-8, 10-5 PFL) seized the reins in the first round, where he
connected with a head kick, powered into top position and
eventually ran the Englishman through a series of clinches and
single-leg takedown attempts. Loughnane was not dissuaded. He
pieced together a magnificent middle stanza, as he drilled the
former Ring of Combat champion with jabs, sometimes two at a time,
and often backed them up with stiff right crosses. Loughnane dazed
the Long Island MMA rep with a counter right early in Round 3,
continued to fire the jab, incorporated damaging leg kicks and
never again relinquished control of the situation.
The victory propels Loughnane into the 2022 featherweight final,
where a date with Bubba
Jenkins and a shot at a $1 million prize awaits in November.
Jenkins (19-5, 5-1 PFL) turned away Ryoji Kudo
with
a rear-naked choke in the first round of their featherweight
semifinal. Finished for the first time in 16 career
bouts, Kudo (11-4-1, 1-2 PFL) conceded defeat 1:49 into Round
1.
The 34-year-old Jenkins was technically and physically
overwhelming. He executed a pair of beautiful belly-to-back
suplexes inside the first minute, then settled into the clinch. The
onetime NCAA wrestling champion then maneuvered into position to
land another takedown, anchored himself during the subsequent
scramble and cinched the choke with Kudo (11-4-1, 1-2 PFL) in an
upright position. The Tribe Tokyo MMA rep collapsed downward in a
last-ditch effort to shake Jenkins, only to surrender moments
later.
Jenkins has rattled off three consecutive victories.
In other action, Dakota
Ditcheva (6-0, 1-0 PFL) struck Hassna Gabner (4-2, 0-1 PFL)
into submission
with a knee to the body 58 seconds into the first round of their
women’s flyweight showcase; Simeon
Powell (7-0, 3-0 PFL) chopped down Joao
Paulo Fagundes (7-1, 0-1 PFL)
with leg kicks 1:56 into the second round of their light
heavyweight feature; Stuart
Austin (16-8, 1-2 PFL) earned a split decision—28-29, 29-28,
30-27—over Sofiane
Boukichou (9-5, 0-0 PFL) in a three-round heavyweight affair;
Aleksandrs
Chizovs (10-1, 1-0 PFL) put away Omar
Hussein Abufarah (9-4, 0-1 PFL)
with a rear-naked choke 4:12 into the second round of their
lightweight tilt; and Zebenzui
Ruiz (11-3, 1-0 PFL) took a unanimous decision from Raphael
Uchegbu (6-1, 0-1 PFL) in a three-round bantamweight pairing,
drawing 29-28, 29-28 and 29-27 marks from the cageside judges.