It was closer than most anticipated, but Larissa
Pacheco did enough to get by.
The 2022
Professional Fighters League women’s lightweight champion
downshifted to 145 pounds and began her quest for gold in a second
division with a unanimous decision over Julia Budd in
the
PFL 2 headliner on Friday inside The Theater at Virgin Hotels
in Las Vegas. Scores were 30-27, 29-28 and 30-27—all for Pacheco
(20-4, 9-2 PFL).
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Budd (16-6, 1-3 PFL) made it competitive. She punctuated occasional
punching volleys with powerful right hands and at times
outscrambled Pacheco in back-and-forth grappling exchanges. In the
end, she failed to muster enough consistent offense to spring the
upset. Pacheco staggered the former Bellator
MMA titleholder with a clean left hook in the third round,
dragged her to the canvas and secured an advantageous position
behind her. Budd escaped and moved on top, only to be reversed soon
after. Pacheco eventually settled in half guard, made a few passes
at an arm-triangle choke and kept the Canadian at bay.
Meanwhile, Corinthians MMA rep Bruno
Cappelozza swept away Matheus
Scheffel with
punches in the first round of their heavyweight co-main
event. Cappelozza (16-6, 6-1 PFL) drew the curtain
2:15 into Round 1, as he avenged a June 24 decision loss to the
onetime Future Fighting Championships titleholder. Scheffel (17-10, 2-3 PFL) pressured his fellow Brazilian from the
center of the cage, unleashed his jab and followed through with
power punches from both hands. None of it mattered. Cappelozza sent
a surgical right hand crashing through his defenses, trailed him to
the mat and let fly with punches until referee Herb Dean had
seen enough. Scheffel did himself no favors by turning away from
contact.
It was the 10th first-round finish of Cappelozza’s career.
Elsewhere, Global Fight Gym export Olena
Kolesnyk rebounded from a Aug. 20 defeat to the aforementioned
Pacheco and outboxed Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran
Aspen
Ladd to a majority decision in a three-round women’s
featherweight showcase. Scores were 29-28, 29-28 and 28-28.
Kolesnyk (8-5, 3-3 PFL), who missed weight for the match by 0.4
pounds, seized the reins in the first two rounds. She countered
effectively, mixed in a few leg kicks, punched well in combination
and maneuvered out of harm’s way with deft lateral movement. Ladd
(10-4, 1-1 PFL) responded in Round 3, where she secured a takedown,
transitioned to the back and softened her Ukrainian counterpart
with ground-and-pound while hunting for the choke. Kolesnyk,
however, denied those advances and left her fate to the judges.
Ladd has lost three of her past four bouts.
Further down the card, former Eagle Fighting Championship
titleholder Rizvan
Kuniev leaned on a debilitating clinch, more than held his own
in standup exchanges and called upon timely takedowns in a
unanimous decision over Renan
Ferreira in a three-round heavyweight attraction. All three
cageside judges scored it for Kuniev (12-2-1, 1-0 PFL): 29-28,
29-28 and 30-27.
Ferreira (9-4, 3-2 PFL) had his chances but too often let
opportunities slip through his fingers. He bridged out from bottom
position, moved into full mount and threatened with an arm-triangle
choke before transitioning to an armbar in the second round. Those
efforts failed. Kuniev peaked in Round 3, where he battered the
Brazilian with knees and uppercuts at close range, struck for a
takedown and progressed from side control to full mount.
Significant ground-and-pound followed. More importantly, it bled
valuable time off the clock and eliminated any possibility of a
Ferreira comeback.
Kuniev, 31, has rattled off 10 consecutive victories.
In other action, Maurice
Greene (11-7, 1-1 PFL) disposed of Marcelo
Nunes (9-2, 2-1 PFL) with
a volley of knees and punches 1:20 into the second round of their
heavyweight encounter; Danilo
Marques (14-4, 2-0 PFL) laid claim to a unanimous decision
against Yorgan De
Castro (9-4, 0-1 PFL) in a three-round heavyweight scrap,
sweeping the cards with 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 scores; Amber
Leibrock (7-4, 1-0 PFL) cut down Martina
Jindrova (6-4, 3-2 PFL) with
a head kick and follow-up punches 2:19 into the first round of
their women’s featherweight duel; Evelyn
Martins (5-0, 3-0 PFL) took a unanimous decision from Karolina
Sobek (4-1, 0-1 PFL) in a three-round women’s flyweight clash,
drawing 29-28 marks from all three cageside judges; Marina
Mokhnatkina (9-3, 3-1 PFL) put away Yoko
Higashi (8-3, 0-1 PFL) with
punches 1:29 into the second round of their women’s featherweight
pairing; and Biaggio
Ali Walsh—grandson of the legendary Muhammad Ali—dispatched
Isaiah
Figueroa with
punches 1:42 into the first round of their amateur lightweight
affair.