Sherdog

Playoff Roundup: PFL 8 Sets Primus-Rabadanov, Kasanganay-Yagshimuradov Finals

By Mike Pendleton,

5 days ago

The 2024 Professional Fighters League playoffs rolled along on Friday with the second set of semifinals at PFL 8 , where light heavyweights and lightweights took center stage at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

Former

Bellator MMA lightweight champion Brent Primus , who was the top seed in the playoffs at 155 pounds, faced 2023 PFL finalist Clay Collard to begin the lightweight semifinals. It didn’t take long for Primus to establish his grappling in the first round. After a brief exchange on the feet, Primus took Collard’s back and held control throughout the entire second half of the first round. The second round was more of the same, with Primus showing even more dangerous grappling attacks. The grappling attacks from Primus were effectively allowing him to keep control, much to the dismay of the crowd, which poured on the boos through the first 10 minutes. Keeping his control and unleashing a flurry of ground-and-pound, Primus opened up Collard late in the middle stanza. However, the fight would go to the third round. It was more of the same there, too, as Collard had early success on the feet to start the round. Primus once again won position and took Collard’s back. Unlike the first two rounds, however, Collard managed to fight out of it and brought on a late striking attack. It wasn’t enough, and Primus took a unanimous decision.

In the second lightweight semifinal, Gadzhi Rabadanov took on Michael Dufort . Both fighters kept it on the feet, until Rabadanov took control with his wrestling with the first round coming to an end. Looking to negate the wrestling attacks from Rabadanov, Dufort threatened with his own pressure and takedown attempts, but once they went back to the feet, Rabadanov closed the show. The Russian dropped Dufort with a left hook and finished it with a punishing ground-and-pound attack in the second round.

With that, the million-dollar lightweight final was set. Primus faces Rabadanov in November, with both men getting their first chance at PFL gold.

The light heavyweight semifinals closed out the show, starting with onetime PFL champion Rob Wilkinson taking on Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov . In a very competitive first round between the two, Yagshimuradov landed the cleaner strikes and pushed the pace on the former champion. It would be much of the same in the second round, although the action would pick up quite a bit. Yagshimuradov continued to connect with the cleaner, more powerful shots. While it was an entertaining battle throughout, in the end, Yagshimuradov clinched his place in the 2024 PFL light heavyweight championship via unanimous decision.

The main event was a rematch of the 2023 light heavyweight final, and it got started quickly between the two participants. Joshua Silveira came out looking to make the fight a brawl and had success early in the first round. Silveira showed more aggression than the first time the two met back in November. A close first round would be duplicated in the second, which saw both fighters have their respective moments. Impa Kasanganay kept his pace throughout the fight, and while Silveira had his moments, the reigning champion took over in the third round. He used cage control and a heavy flurry of power punches at the end of the fight to secure the victory by unanimous decision.

Kasanganay advances to the 2024 PFL light heavyweight final, where he will seek back-to-back championships against Yagshimuradov.

After missing weight for the first time in her professional career, reigning Bellator MMA champion Liz Carmouche needed a finish or dominant performance on the scorecards due to the point deduction she was given ahead of her semifinal with Taila Santos . The two veteran women were engaged in a back-and-forth affair throughout the fight, with both having their moments across their 15-minute encounter.

Ultimately, the fight went to the judges, and all three scored the fight for Santos. In her first year with the PFL, the Brazilian has punched her ticket to the women’s flyweight final and will look to achieve the world champion status that eluded her in her previous tenure with the Ultimate Fighting Championship .

The men’s heavyweight division got started with Oleg Popov taking on late-replacement Linton Vassell , and the Russian dominated his way to the final. Popov used dominant wrestling and control to wear down Vassell, giving him no time to get into his own game plan. He controlled the fight from bell to bell.

Meanwhile, with Santos watching from cageside, she had the best seat in the house when Dakota Ditcheva faced Jena Bishop in the other semifinal at 125 pounds. It was billed as the “classic striker vs. grappler” matchup, but it did not last long. Answering the critics who doubted her ability to hang with a grappler, Ditcheva weathered early pressure from Bishop and did what she does best, using an outstanding striking display to drop the Alliance Jiu-Jitsu rep in the first round. She followed up with more punches and knees, forcing the referee to call the fight just minutes after it began.

In the main event, Tim Johnson took on Denis Goltsov , who has been in the playoffs four times previously but has yet to claim PFL gold. Much like the Ditcheva-Bishop co-headliner, the fight was done in quick order, as Goltsov managed to get Johnson to the mat and finish with ground-and-pound, securing his second consecutive trip to the heavyweight final.

The 2024 PFL heavyweight championship will see the top seed in Goltsov matched with the second-seeded Popov. The top two seeds will also square off in the 2024 PFL women’s flyweight championship, as Ditcheva faces Santos for the world title at 125 pounds. The winners will receive $1 million.

The remaining pairings for the 2024 PFL championships will be decided at PFL 9 on Aug. 23, when the featherweight and welterweight playoffs take place in Washington, D.C. Finals for all divisions are set for November.

WELTERWEIGHT