By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Senior Columnist
PFL made some major changes this past week. Also, UFC 311 was this past weekend and featured some big fights. Who won and who lost? Let’s get to the rundown.
PFL has gotten rid of the season format they previously used and will instead have an 8-fighter single-elimination tournament across 8 weight divisions.
The weight divisions are-
Women’s Flyweight
Men’s Bantamweight
Men’s Featherweight
Men’s Lightweight
Men’s Welterweight
Men’s Middleweight
Men’s Light Heavyweight
Men’s Heavyweight
The first rounds of these tournaments will take place in April and May, with the semifinals taking place in June, and the finals taking place in August.
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Bellator is no more. PFL acquired the promotion in 2023 and operated it as a separate entity last year but moving forward, that will no longer be the case.
Bellator was started in 2008 and has a long list of great moments.
There’s been no word yet about what will happen with the current champions of Bellator.
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In other news, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (36-7) has been released by
PFL. Neiman Gracie (13-6) said he’s not resigning with PFL. Kai Kamaka III (14-6-1) has asked for his release but as I write this, that hasn’t been granted yet. They join Aaron Pico (13-4) as free agents
that may or may not sign with the UFC.
UFC 311
GOOD- Reinier de Ridder submits Kevin Holland
de Ridder gets an immediate takedown and they start grappling. Holland
fights off of his back with hammerfists as de Ridder scores with some
strikes of his own. Holland is cut by a de Ridder elbow. They’re up for a moment as de Ridder takes Holland’s back. They go back to the
mat and de Ridder has a tight rear-naked choke locked in that forces the tap three and a half minutes into the first round.
de Ridder improves to 19-2 and has won 3 straight fights while Holland
drops to 26-13 with 1 No Contest. Good win for de Ridder.
GOOD- Jailton Almeida stops Serghei Spivac
Almeida lands some good low kicks early while Spivac fires back with
punches. Spivac gets a trip takedown and goes to work. Almeida is fighting well off of his back but Spivac lands a few good elbows. They stand after a bit and Almeida nails Spivac with a hook/uppercut combination before getting a takedown of his own. Almeida starts raining down punches to force the referee to jump in to stop the fight
with only seconds to go in the first round.
Almeida improves to 22-3 while Spivac drops to 17-5. Good win for Almeida.
GOOD- Jiri Prochazka stops Jamahal Hill
Things start tentatively as each man tries to find his desired range.
Things start to heat up a little bit as the fighters exchange strikes until Prochazka drops Hill with a strong left hand. Hill is quickly back up and they’re popping each other with power strikes until the first round ends. The second round begins with more striking exchanges
until Hill gets poked in the eye. They resume and exchange more strikes until Prochazka gets poked in the eye. After a few minutes they resume and the striking exchanges continue. Things are heating up
as both fighters show good toughness and absorb plenty of damage until the second round ends.
The third round starts with more striking, as
Prochazka hurts Hill. Prochazka drops Hill again, whose face is
showing the effects of Prochazka’s strikes, but Hill is able to tough it out and work his way back to his feet. Not for long, though, as Prochazka punishes him and drops him again and unloads a barrage of
strikes to force the referee to jump in to stop the fight three
minutes into the third round. That was a hell of a fight.
Prochazka improves to 31-5-1 while Hill drops to 12-3 with 1 No Contest. Good win for Prochazka.
GOOD- Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
Dvalishvili was trying to defend his UFC Bantamweight Championship for
the first time here. Slow start as not much happens for the first few
minutes. They trade unsuccessful takedown attempts and some strikes
until the first round ends. The second round begins much the same way as the first round, as not much is happening early. They begin to trade strikes after a minute and they’re crashing together with strikes in between takedown attempts. Nurmagomedov gets his takedown
attempt and tries to go to work but Dvalishvili explodes back to his feet. They continue to trade strikes as Nurmagomedov keeps denying
Dvalishvili’s takedown attempts and the second round ends.
The third round starts with striking that’s grown more frenetic. They’re coming at each other from all angles and Dvalishvili gets a few takedowns.
They’re grappling hard and Nurmagomedov gets a takedown of his own
before the third round ends.
The fourth round opens with some striking and takedown attempts.
Dvalishvili eventually gets another takedown but Nurmagomedov is
immediately back up. This repeats a few more times and Nurmagomedov is
losing steam quickly as the fourth round ends. The fifth round begins with another lull until they start trading strikes and takedown
attempts. The champion is a man possessed and is relentless in his attacks and takedown attempts. Dvalishvili gets a takedown and they’re
up and down a few times until the final bell rings. We go to the
judges to render their verdict.
Dvalishvili wins the decision to improve to 19-4 and has won 12 straight fights and defends his UFC Bantamweight Championship for the
first time while Nurmagomedov drops to 18-1 after being handed his
first career defeat. Good win for Dvalishvili.
GOOD- Islam Makhachev submits Renato Moicano
Makhachev was trying to defend his UFC Lightweight Championship for
the fourth time here. He was supposed to be fighting Arman Tsarukyan (22-3) but Tsarukyan had to pull out a day before the fight with a back injury. Moicano stepped in on short notice, as he was originally
supposed to face Beneil Dariush (22-6-1) at this event, but the
decision was made for Moicano to fight Makhachev. Dariush was left
without an opponent, which is unfortunate for him.
Regardless, this fight starts with some striking exchanges until Moicano advances toward Makhachev with his fingers outstretched. This
draws a warning from the referee. I would much rather have seen a
point taken away but I won’t start ranting about that. They go back to
striking and Moicano drops Makhachev. Maybe the champion was just
off-balance but I’m sure Moicano will take it. Makhachev gets a takedown and locks in a Brabo choke that forces the tap a little over
four minutes into the first round.
Makhachev improves to 27-1 and has won 15 straight fights while Moicano drops to 20-6-1 and has his 4 fight winning streak snapped.
Good win for Makhachev.
My new epic fantasy book is out. It’s called Kingdom of Zarias: The End’s Beginning. The exciting epic fantasy series Kingdom of Zarias returns with the 4th book in the series. After the harrowing events of
Book 3 the residents of the Kingdom of Zarias continue on their paths.
Serena Summers continues to learn and grow as a fighter, desperately seeking to become stronger before she loses anyone else in her life.
Daniel Summers discovers new parts of the world that open his eyes to
just how little he truly knows. A new hero, Lamar Abeers, arrives to
join the fight against evil. Plus, Zach Summers, Tiana Highsmith, and Xavien Ekens continue their journeys with their friends, and a new ruler of Vhaharen is crowned. The world has found a little peace.
However, that peace is only temporary. In a shocking act of violence,
the monstrous villain Galren strikes from the shadows and changes the
world forever. This is Book 4 in the series. There’s lots of action, magic, and monsters in the Kingdom of Zarias. It’s like a tabletop game in novel form. It’s on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and many other places. If you’re interested, I would greatly appreciate it if you
would check it out and support me. Also, here’s the link to my
Compendium book about the Kingdom of Zarias series- KoZ Compendium Thank you
very much, have a good day.
Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at
hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank.
Thanks for reading and have a good day.
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