PFL Lightweight and Featherweight Finals Set
With spots in the lightweight and featherweight championships on the line, the PFL playoffs continued on October 17th with PFL 8.
In the headlining fight, Chris Wade would be denied his chance at a rematch against Natan Schulte, as Loik Radzhabov walked away with a unanimous decision win.
Radzhabov advanced to the semi-final round in an unconventional way as he and Islam Mamedov went to a majority draw. With it being a playoff fight, Radzhabov moved on due to a judges’ tiebreaker. Radzhabov was able to face off with Wade, who took a majority decision over Nate Andrews earlier in the evening.
Wade was unable to slow down or stall Radzhabov’s attack, gassing out near the end of round two while his opponent continued to dominate for a unanimous decision victory.
Radzhabov will make his way to the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden on December 31st, as he will look to be the second-ever PFL lightweight $1 million champion, facing off against Natan Schulte.
In the featherweight division, Lance Palmer and Daniel Pineda will be the two heading to New York on New Year’s Eve, as Palmer defeated Alexandre Almeida in the quarterfinals and Alex Gilpin in the semi-finals, both by unanimous decision, while Pineda punched his ticket with two stoppages, first against Movlid Khaybulaev via first-round knockout, and then submitting Jeremy Kennedy in the semi-finals
For the full PFL 8 card, look below
Main Card (ESPN+, 10:30 p.m. ET)
Lightweight Semifinal
Loik Radzhabov def. Chris Wade via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Lightweight Semifinal
Natan Schulte def. Akhmet Aliev via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 2:26
Featherweight Semifinal
Daniel Pineda def. Jeremy Kennedy via submission (guillotine) – Round 1, 4:00
Lightweight Quarter-final
Chris Wade def. Nate Andrews via majority decision (19-19, 20-18, 20-18)
Lightweight Quarter-final
Loik Radzhabov vs. Islam Mamedov is declared a majority draw (advances by winning judges’ tiebreaker)
Lightweight Quarter-final
Akhmet Aliev def. Rashid Magomedov via unanimous decision (Radzhabov 20-18, 20-18, 20-18)
Preliminaries (ESPN 2, 8 p.m. ET)
Featherweight Semifinal
Lance Palmer def. Alex Gilpin via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Lightweight Quarter-final
Natan Schulte def. Ramsey Nijem via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 0:52
Featherweight Quarter-final
Jeremy Kennedy def. Luis Rafael Laurentino via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:24
Featherweight Quarter-final
Daniel Pineda def. Movlid Khaybulaev via KO (strikes) – Round 1, 0:29
Featherweight Quarter-final
Alex Gilpin def. Andre Harrison via submission (ninja choke) – Round 2, 1:49
Featherweight Quarter-final
Lance Palmer def. Alexandre Almeida via unanimous decision (20-17, 20-18, 20-18)