Four fighters claimed the remaining spots in the PFL finals Thursday night in Las Vegas, but few could have foreseen the path that determined those fortunate enough to still be in the running for $1 million in the heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions.
No. 1-seeded light heavyweight Emiliano Sordi took care of business with his third and fourth finishes of the PFL season — both coming in the first round — but the rest of the night was wildly unpredictable. No. 7 seeds Jordan Johnson and Jared Rosholt cut through their respective brackets — as the third and fourth seven seeds in the PFL finals — and No. 5 heavyweight Ali Isaev scored a knockout of top-ranked heavyweight Denis Goltsov with exactly one second left in their fight.
Here’s how those fights and the rest of the night played out in the PFL’s two biggest divisions.
Heavyweight semifinals: No. 5 Ali Isaev def. No. 1 Denis Goltsov by third-round TKO
For about 14 minutes, 50 seconds, this bout was a prime example of the downside of having fighters compete twice in a night. Neither man seemed sharp, and other than an Isaev takedown in the second round and the occasional Goltsov strike from distance, there wasn’t a lot to distinguish either of these heavyweight semifinalists from one another. The judges were going to have their work cut out for them.
Or not.
With about 10 seconds left in the fight, Isaev (7-0) unleashed a wild overhand right that dropped Goltsov, and the 2008 Olympic wrestler representing Azerbaijan — seeded fifth in these playoffs, and the only undefeated fighter in the division — swarmed for a finish. Top seed Goltsov (24-5) could do nothing but cover his head, and that wasn’t good enough for referee Herb Dean, who stopped the bout at 4:59 of Round 3. It was a “wow!” finish to a fight that had zero thrills before that final moment.
Heavyweight semifinals: No. 7 Jared Rosholt def. No. 4 Kelvin Tiller by unanimous decision
Kelvin Tiller remained on his back even after the final bell sounded and Jared Rosholt walked off, a sure victory in hand. He spent five rounds inside the cage, between his quarterfinal and semifinal fights, and he was positioned on his posterior for nearly every second of those 25 minutes. Despite being outstruck 195-2 in his quarterfinal loss, Tiller was back in the cage again because two other fighters were not medically cleared to face Rosholt.
That was, sadly, the only interesting thing about this bout. The seventh-seeded Rosholt (20-7) got three takedowns and didn’t have an opportunity for more, because No. 4 seed Tiller (11-5) couldn’t get back to his feet. Yet Rosholt did little with his top control but pin down Tiller, earning himself a ho-hum 30-27 scores from all three judges. It was, despite the ugliness of the fight, enough to secure a spot in the $1 million heavyweight finals.
Light heavyweight semifinals: No. 1 Emiliano Sordi def. No. 4 Bozigit Ataev by first-round submission (rear naked choke)
Emiliano Sordi and Bozigit Ataev both displayed slick striking earlier in the evening in their quarterfinal bouts, so this PFL semifinal seemingly promised to be a standup battle, especially with these light heavyweights having tangled twice before. Each man owned a knockout win over the other.
This time, though, it was the top-seeded Argentine’s well-roundedness that made the difference. He got the better of early standup exchanges, but shortly after Ataev (20-5-1) clipped Sordi with a solid punch midway through Round 1, Sordi (21-8) moved forward into a clinch, used a trip takedown to seize control on the canvas, then turned a full mount into a rear-naked choke submission at 4:26 to earn his spot in the final.
Light heavyweight semifinals: No. 7 Jordan Johnson def. No. 6 Rashid Yusupov by unanimous decision
Jordan Johnson had a good idea of what he wanted to do going into his semifinal bout against Rashid Yusupov, and he didn’t appear to change his strategy as the fight went on. He just kept at it, working and working for takedowns, which were hard to come by against Yusupov, who is a striker but comes from Dagestan, a region that has a wrestling-rich history. He’d dealt with fighters like Johnson before, and he looked capable of fending off takedowns and landing strikes the whole night, at least at the outset.
But the seventh-seeded Johnson gradually took Yusupov (12-3) out of his game, and the American’s relentless forward pressure finally wore out his opponent. Johnson (12-1-1) even got the best of some standup exchanges. After two close rounds, when Johnson took the fight to the mat early in Round 3, he was in his office and went to work. He maintained top position for the rest of the way, earning 30-26, 30-26 and 29-27 scorecards — ultimately outlanding Yusupov 100-16.
Heavyweight quarterfinals: No. 6 Francimar Barroso def. No. 3 Alex Nicholson by unanimous decision
The final quarterfinal fight of the 2019 PFL playoffs was a rock-’em, sock-’em battle from the start, with both men landing big shots — and some of them were even legal. After bloodying Barroso midway through Round 1, Nicholson connected with a knee to the midsection that caused referee Herb Dean to jump in to pause the action for what he ruled a low blow; upon replay, the call looked marginal. But before Dean could get there, Nicholson followed up with a knee to the face and a punch, badly hurting Barroso. After action resumed, Barroso was reeling for the rest of the round.
There were two additional low-blow pauses in Round 2; one of them was legit, but it was the other that earned Nicholson a point deduction. That proved decisive, as the scorecards ended up being 20-17, 19-18 and 19-18, all for Barroso. It would have been a majority draw if not for the deduction, and Nicholson did the most damage in the fight — and not just to the groin. As for Barroso, he advanced to the semis as a fighter, but he was damaged goods after this fight — and ultimately, Nicholson was, too. Kelvin Tiller ultimately stepped back into the bracket to face Jared Rosholt in the semifinals.
Heavyweight quarterfinals: No. 1 Denis Goltsov def. No. 8 Satoshi Ishii by majority decision
Denis Goltsov, the No. 1 seed at heavyweight, won both rounds in the eyes of two of the three judges despite being on his back for much of Round 1. A combat sambo world champion, the Russian was taken to the mat midway through the round by Ishi, but the 2008 Olympic judo gold medalist could do little with the takedown into side position and ended up having to defend a submission attempt shortly before the horn.
In Round 2, Goltsov (24-5) came out the aggressor, and his 6-foot-5 frame and crisp jab kept the 5-10 Japanese fighter at bay. When the fight finally went to the mat, it was Goltsov on top this time, and Ishii (24-9-1) could do little about it. In the waning moments, Goltsov once again went for a submission, but ultimately settled for the decision victory. Two judges scored it 20-18 for him, while the third had it a 19-19 draw.
Heavyweight quarterfinals: No. 7 Jared Rosholt def. No. 2 seed Muhammed DeReese by first-round TKO
It didn’t look good for Jared Rosholt early on in his quarterfinal bout against Muhammed DeReese. In the fight’s opening seconds, the No. 7 seed at heavyweight was knocked off his feet by a leg kick, then pounded on by second-seeded DeReese for more than half of Round 1. But after absorbing damage, both while on his back and after he had shifted to facedown position, Rosholt finally managed to get to his feet with just over two minutes to go in the round. He then wasted no time in turning the tables.
Rosholt (19-7) immediately went for the takedown, and the winningest heavyweight in Oklahoma State wrestling history easily got one. DeReese (8-2) appeared to have expended all of the energy he had in his early barrage, and Rosholt took advantage. Rosholt quickly moved into dominant mount position with DeReese facedown, covering his head with both hands and offering no resistance. Rosholt landed nowhere near as much damage as DeReese had earlier, but his punches were nonstop and DeReese was putting up zero defense, leaving referee Herb Dean no choice but to step in at 3:41.
According to ESPN Stats & Information, prior to this TKO victory, Rosholt had gone 11 straight fights without finishing an opponent.
Heavyweight quarterfinals: No. 5 Ali Isaev def. No. 4 seed Kelvin Tiller by unanimous decision
Ali Isaev is an Olympic wrestler, having represented Azerbaijan in the 2008 Games. So what did fourth-seeded Tiller try to do in the opening seconds of this heavyweight bout? He tried to wrestle the No. 5-seeded Isaev (7-0) to the canvas — and it did not go well for the American.
Isaev slammed Tiller to the canvas and rode out the first round, delivering little damage but never ceding control. Amazingly, Tiller (11-4) used the same strategy at the start of Round 2. Not so amazingly, that round played out much the same as the first one had, with Isaev on top the whole way and cruising to a lopsided decision. According to the PFL’s initial stats on the fight, Isaev outlanded Tiller 195-2, with 194 of Isaev’s 195 strikes coming on the ground
Judges scored the bout 20-16, 20-17 and 20-17, as Isaev remained unbeaten and advanced to the semifinals.
Light heavyweight quarterfinals: No. 6 Rashid Yusupov def. No. 3 Vinny Magalhaes by first-round KO
Rashid Yusupov set up Vinny Magalhaes with a leg kick and lead right uppercut before face-planting him with a straight left hand — emphatically finishing last year’s light heavyweight runner-up at 2:46 of the first round.
The sixth-seeded Russian (12-2) never allowed Magalhaes, a former Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion who was the No. 3 seed, to take the fight where he needed it to be. Yusupov absorbed some kicks, but kept the fight standing long enough to set up the devastating finish, after which he raised his arms over his head even before the referee jumped in to save Magalhaes. For the Brazilian (19-12), it was his third KO loss in 10 months.
Light heavyweight quarterfinals: No. 7 Jordan Johnson and No. 2 Maxim Grishin fight to a majority draw (Johnson advances by judges’ unanimous decision)
Jordan Johnson, the No. 7 seed at light heavyweight, advanced to the semifinals of the PFL playoffs by keeping this fight close. It was close not merely on the scorecards — two of the three judges had it as a draw, while the third had Johnson winning — but also in how the bout played out in the cage. Johnson did not allow the second-seeded Grishin and his dangerous standup room to operate, earning takedowns in both rounds and keeping the fight in clinches against the cage for extended periods.
In the tiebreaker, all three judges gave the fight to Johnson (11-1-1), who had suffered his only career loss during the 2019 PFL regular season against Grishin (30-7-2). The 30-year-old American got the nod this time for his relentlessness, which minimized the damage that Grishin could deliver. The Russian landed some big clean shots, but not enough; for the second season in a row in the PFL playoffs, Grishin entered the bracket as the No. 2 seed and lost a tiebreaker to fall out in the quarterfinals.
Light heavyweight quarterfinals: No. 4 Bozigit Ataev and No. 5 Viktor Nemkov fight to a draw (Ataev advances by judges’ decision)
Bozigit Ataev nearly finished his light heavyweight quarterfinal fight in the first round, dropping Viktor Nemkov with a right hand out of a clinch and landing several clean shots on the ground. But Nemkov survived, and driven by a sense of urgency in the two-round bout, he was the aggressor the rest of the way, resulting in the fight being scored a draw.
With the quarterfinal sent to a tiebreaker, two of the three judges gave it to Ataev, the 40-year-old Dagestani, who moved on to face the top seed, Sordi, in the semifinals. Sordi defeated Ataev during the 2019 PFL regular season, but Ataev was the winner when the pair met for the first time, in the 2018 PFL playoffs.
Light heavyweight quarterfinals: No. 1 Emiliano Sordi def. No. 8 Sigi Pesaleli by first-round TKO
Top-seeded light heavyweight Emiliano Sordi expended minimal energy in the night’s opening bout, measuring Sigi Pesaleli for the first minute before landing a straight right hand that sent the New Zealander into retreat against the cage. Sordi calmly pursued Pesaleli, landing another straight right and a couple of kicks before finishing the job with uppercuts.
The TKO finish came at 1:13, sending Sordi, the 28-year-old Argentine, into the semifinals with no damage done and his gas tank still full. It was Sordi’s third finish of the season.