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Impa Kasanganay is one win away from another $ 1 million check.

On Friday night at the Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, FL, Kasanganay faced Josh Silveira in the main event of PFL 8. It was a rematch of their previous battle in the finals of the 2023 light heavyweight tournament and while he had to work a lot hard this time around, Kasanganay nonetheless got his hand raised.

In their first encounter, Kasanganay outclassed Silveira with superior striking and great defensive wrestling, but heading into this bout Silveira promised he was a new man and the American Top Team product looked it, coming out aggressively to start and putting Kasanganay under fire. What resulted was a back-and-forth dog fight with Kasanganay landing the most significant blows and even scoring a big takedown late in the fight. In the end, the judges awarded Kasanganay with a unanimous decision and he moves on to the 2024 finals where he hopes to become a two-time champion.

In the co-main event, Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov upset former PFL champion Rob Wilkinson to earn his spot in the light heavyweight finals. Wilkinson made a name for himself in the PFL with his aggressive striking style, but it was Yagshimuradov who got the better of the striking exchanges in the bout, landing the harder punches and stymying Wilkinson’s attack despite not being able to complete any takedowns. In the end, the judges awarded Yagshimuradov’s power punches giving him a clean sweep on the scorecards.

In the featured fight of the evening, Gadzhi Rabadanov punched his way into the lightweight tournament finals, stopping Michael Dufort in the second round. Friend and training partner of Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov, Rabadanov showed off his striking instead of his grappling on Friday, clubbing Dufort with a stepping left hook and then finishing him with follow-up shots on the ground to earn his spot in the finals.

In the first lightweight semifinal of the evening, former Bellator lightweight champion Brent Primus secured his spot in the tournament finals with a dominant showing against 2023 lightweight tournament finalist Clay Collard. Primus was able to leverage his wrestling and grappling skills to negate Collard’s striking skills, repeatedly scoring takedowns and taking dominant position en route to a unanimous decision victory.

The best performance of the evening though was reserved for the the opening main card fight, where Biaggio Ali Walsh scored the first knockout of his professional career, stopping Brian Stapleton in just 55 seconds.

Ali Walsh, the grandson of Muhammad Ali, fought several times for PFL as an amateur but made his pro debut earlier this year with a unanimous decision win at PFL vs. Bellator. This time around though things went more like most of his amateur fights, as he leveled Stapleton with with a right hand over the top of a jab to score the quick finish.

Check out the full results from PFL 8 below.

Impa Kasanganay def. Josh Silveira via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov def. Rob Wilkinson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Gadzi Rabadanov def. Michael Dufort via TKO (punches) — Round 2, 1:51

Brent Primus def. Clay Collard via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Biaggio Ali Walsh def. Brian Stapleton via knockout (punch) — Round 1, 0:55

Danny Sabatello vs. Lazaro Dayron ends in majority draw (29-27, 28-28, 28-28)

Mads Burnell def. Elvin Espinoza via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Thad Jean def. Chris Brown via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Jordan Oliver def. Braydon Akeo via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Michelle Montague def. Marilia Morais via submission (rear-naked choke) — Round 1, 1:44

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The UFC 305 main event fighters, middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis and former two-time titleholder Israel Adesanya, successfully made weight for their grudge match.

Adesanya was the first fighter to step on the scales and officially weighed in at 184 pounds. Du Plessis was the second fighter to weigh in and came in at 185 pounds even. 

The championship bout will be Du Plessis’ first title defense. He captured the championship in January by defeating Sean Strickland via split decision in the UFC 297 main event. Adesanya lost the belt to Strickland in his last outing last September.

UFC 305 Main Event Weigh-In Video

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UFC

The 2024 Professional Fighters League (PFL) playoffs continue TONIGHT (Fri., Aug. 16, 2024) inside Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Hollywood, Fla., as last year’s light heavyweight winner, Impa Kasanganay, takes on Josh Silveira, while Rob Wilkinson faces Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov in the co-main event of the evening.

The event will stream on ESPN+ and ESPN for United States-based viewers, while international mixed martial arts (MMA) fans can catch the action via DAZN starting at 6:30 p.m. ET.

PFL Hollywood Quick Results:

205 lbs.: Impa Kasanganay vs. Josh Silveira
205 lbs.: Rob Wilkinson vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov
155 lbs.: Gadzhi Rabadanov vs. Michael Dufort
155 lbs.: Brent Primus vs. Clay Collard
155 lbs.: Biaggo Ali Walsh vs. Brian Stapleton – Ali Walsh via first-round knockout
135 lbs.: Danny Sabatello vs. Lazaro Dayron – Fight ruled a majority draw
155 lbs.: Mads Burnell vs. Elvin Espinoza – Burnell via unanimous decision
205 lbs.: Thad Jean vs. Chris Brown – Jean via unanimous decision
145 lbs.: Jordan Oliver vs. Braydon Akeo – Oliver via unanimous decision
145 lbs.: Michelle Montague vs. Marilia Morais – Montague via first-round rear-naked choke

To checkout the latest PFL-related news and notes click here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

MMA Fighting has Craig Jones Invitational results and more from Friday’s action at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev.

Check out CJI results below.

Main card (LIVE now):

Over 80kg first round:

Nicky Rod def. Max Gimenis via submission (rear-naked choke) — Round 2, 1:45

Owen Livesey def. Mahamed Aly via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Adam Bradley def. Kyle Boehm via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Pat Downey def. Luke Rockhold via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-25, 30-26) | Recap

Lucas Kanard def. Victor Hugo via submission (heel hook) — Round 1, 1:10 | Watch finish

Inacio Santos def. Pedro Alex via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Fellipe Andrew def. Daniel Kerkvliet via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)

Joao Gabriel Rocha def. William Tackett via unanimous decision

Over 80kg quarterfinals:

Nicky Rod def. Owen Livesey via submission (rear-naked choke) — Round 1, 3:41

Adam Bradley vs. Pat Downey

Lucas Kanard vs. Inacio Santos

Fellipe Andrew vs. Joao Gabriel Rocha

Over 80kg semifinals:

Nicky Rod vs. TBD

TBD vs. TBD

Under 80kg first round:

Tye Ruotolo vs. Jason Nolf

Roberto Jimenez vs Levi Jones-Leary

Lucas Barbosa vs. Kenta Iwamoto

Jozef Chen vs. Andy Varela

Kade Ruotolo vs. Matheus Diniz

Renato Canuto vs. Tommy Langaker

Magid Hage vs. Eoghan O’Flanagan

Nicky Ryan vs. Andrew Tackett

Under 80kg quarterfinals:

TBD

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Matchroom Boxing promoter, Eddie Hearn has revealed why his infamous spat with Saudi adviser and budding boxing promoter, Turki Alalshikh blossomed – in direct response to last year’s infamous match between Tyson Fury, and former UFC star, Francis Ngannou.

Hearn, a high-profile promoter under the banner of Matchroom Boxing, claims his rivalry with Alalshikh stems from his rather unfavorable comments regarding the booking of a clash between former WBC heavyweight boxing champion, Fury, and former UFC heavyweight titleholder, Ngannou – which is slowly being squashed.

Eddie Hearn reveals spat with Saudi promoter, Turki Alalshikh

“I did one of the most stupid things I’ve ever done, but unfortunately if you ask me questions,” Eddie Hearn said on Cigar Talk. “I’m pretty honest. I really didn’t speak favorably about (Tyson) Fury – (Francis) Ngannou. He (Turki Alalshikh) is putting on this event, and there’s this big promoter who used to work with these other guys, now he’s slagg8ing off Fury – Ngannou. Slowly, I’m coming down the order of ‘Flavor of the Month’ with him (Alalshikh).”

Fighting Morecambe native, Fury back in October of last year in Riyadh, former heavyweight mixed martial arts champion, Ngannou suffered a controversial split decision defeat to the former over the course of 10 rounds – even scoring a stunning knockdown against the British fighter en route to defeat.

However, back in March, Ngannou took on Eddie Hearn’s posterboy, former two-time heavyweight world champion, Anthony Joshua in the Middle East – suffering a hellacious knockout defeat to the Watford star in his first knockout stoppage in professional combat sports.

Slated to make his return to mixed martial arts in October in Riyadh for his third round trip to the region, Cameroonian knockout ace, Ngannou is set to take on 2023 PFL heavyweight champion, Renan Ferreira in his first venture to the PFL SmartCage before the end of the annum. 

LowKickMMA.com

UFC 305 takes place on Saturday night, and MMA News is here to bring you the final faceoffs from the ceremonial weigh-ins!

The upcoming pay-per-view event at Perth’s RAC Arena provides a chance for UFC Middleweight Champion Dricus Du Plessis to further enhance his legacy on mixed martial arts’ biggest stage.

After unseating Sean Strickland in the American’s first defense this past January, the South African will look to avoid the same fate when he puts the gold on the line Down Under opposite former two-time champ Israel Adesanya.

Title stakes could be down the line for the co-main event winner, meanwhile, with recent challenger Steve Erceg looking to immediately bounce back from his first UFC setback against the returning Kai Kara-France.

Elsewhere on the UFC 305 card, lightweight fan favorite Dan Hooker shoots for a top-five ranking opposite Mateusz Gamrot, hard-hitting heavyweights Tai Tuivasa and Jairzinho Rozenstruik likely swing for the fences, and China’s Li Jingliang makes a long-awaited comeback.

Ahead of the event, 23 out of the 24 fighters successfully made weight, with Jesus Aguilar’s 1.5-pound miss of the flyweight limit marking the sole indiscretion on the scale.

Nevertheless, every fight has remained intact, and all that remains on Friday night (Saturday local time) is for the athletes to face off one final time at the UFC 305 ceremonial weigh-ins!

Check out a live stream via the official UFC YouTube channel below, commencing at 11 PM ET.

UFC 305 Ceremonial Weigh-In Stream

Continue Reading UFC 305: Dricus Du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya Ceremonial Weigh-In Live Stream at MMA News.

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