Fabian
Edwards closes the show with a KO!Big moment. Big finish. Big statement at 185!
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— PFL (@PFLMMA)
April 19, 2025
The
Professional Fighters League’s middleweight and lightweight
divisions were on display as 16 of its top fighters competed to
move on to the 2025 World Tournament semifinals.
The
PFL World Tournament 3 main event was highly anticipated as
Impa
Kasanganay and Fabian
Edwards clashed to determine the middleweight frontrunner.
Kasanganay (18-6) and Edwards (14-4) were initially locked in a
stalemate as neither fighter could take the other down. However,
Edwards was able to sneak in several clean punches and elbows that
cut the 2023 PFL Middleweight Champion.
The second round saw the hard-hitting Kasanganay land a heavy right
hand that rocked his British opponent. Edwards would recover well,
as he was the far more technical striker. “The Assassin” would clip
his opponent with more elbows, which allowed him to then
land a left hand that floored Kasanganay. Edwards kept the
pressure on and secured a TKO victory at 2:14 of Round 2.
Coming off the marquee win, Edwards will take on Joshua
Silveira in the semifinals next.
Rabadanov KOs Diakiese
In the featured lightweight tournament fight, 2024 PFL Lightweight
Champion Gadzhi
Rabadanov proved why he’s the favorite to repeat at the expense
of Marc
Diakiese.
Rabadanov (25-4-2) made quick work of Diakiese (18-8), who was
knocked out in less than a minute. After catching a kick from “The
Bonecrusher,” the Russian put his opponent on the ground and
unloaded devastating punches that knocked out Diakiese. The
violent finish came just 32 seconds into Round 1.
Rabadanov improves to 6-0 inside the PFL and extends his winning
streak to 10 fights.
Sy Chokes Out Rosta
Dalton
Rosta dominated Sadibou Sy
in order to lock in a rematch against Aaron
Jeffery in the middleweight semifinals.
Rosta (10-1) came out throwing hard punches and was able to
consistently back up Sy (17-9-2, 1 NC) against the cage. “The
Swedish Denzel” would get clipped by an overhand right early on in
Round 2, which allowed Rosta to get into side control and
lock in a brabo choke. There was no tap as Sy went out
cold.
The technical submission came at 3:29 of the second round.
Wilson Outclasses Burnell
Jay-Jay
Wilson outwrestled and outstruck Mads
Burnell to clinch a spot in the lightweight semifinals against
Gadzhi
Rabadanov.
Both men had success grappling in the opening frame, as Burnell
(20-7) controlled Wilson (11-1) early on before “The Maori Kid”
secured a takedown of his own to finish the round on top. However,
as the fight went on, Wilson was able to dominate positionally and
keep Burnell on his back. Wilson would turn on the heat in Round 3,
as he rained down punches and
continually rocked Burnell to secure a TKO victory.
Referee Bryan Miner waved off the fight at 4:42 of the final
round.
Davis Clobbers Collard
The main card kicked off with a lightweight quarterfinal between
Clay
Collard and Alfie
Davis.
Collard (25-15, 1 NC) was as aggressive as ever, but it wound up
being a mistake as he rushed
right into a spinning back elbow while trying to close the
distance. Davis (18-5-1) stayed composed and continued landing
damaging punches that dropped Collard several times. The fight was
finally waved off at 2:12 of the first round.
England’s Davis gets back into the win column with the victory and
has now won four of his last five fights.
PFL 2025 World Tournament 3 Prelim Results:
In preliminary action, Joshua
Silveira advanced in the middleweight bracket by outgrappling
Mike
Shipman to secure a unanimous decision win with a trio of 29-28
scorecards in his favor; Brent
Primus (16-4, 1 NC) tapped Vinicius
Sacchelli Cenci (10-3)
with a rear-naked choke at 4:52 of Round 3 to advance to a
lightweight tournament fight against Davis; and Aaron
Jeffery (16-5) outworked Murad
Ramazanov (12-3, 1 NC) to a split decision win with scorecards
of 28-29, 29-28 and 29-28 to advance in the middleweight
tournament.
