PFL World Tournament First Round Recap: Heavyweights

Last night, the PFL had their final first round event in their first ever world tournament. The big boys took center stage as the light heavyweights and the heavyweights went to battle. In the featured heavyweight battle of the evening, former interim Bellator champion Valentin Moldavsky (14-4) took on Sergey Bilostenniy (13-4).

A lot of people including myself were high on Moldavsky entering this matchup. However, Bilostenniy showed in the first round that he was going to make this a tough fight. He landed some massive shots on the former interim Bellator champion which had him out in front early. The second round was close and Moldavsky controlled the third round with his grappling. It was a very close fight but all three judges gave the fight to Moldavsky who advanced to the next round.

He’ll be taking on Alexandr Romanov (19-3) who made a massive statement against Tim Johnson (18-12). Romanov was able to secure a standing guillotine and finished Johnson in the first round. The first fight of the night featured the heavyweights with Rodrigo Nascimento (12-3) taking on Abraham Bably (5-2). Bably started well but a strong final two rounds for Nascimento gave him the split decision win.

Last year’s PFL season runner-up Oleg Popov (20-2) took on Karl Williams (10-3) in the other heavyweight matchup. Popov was a big favorite but it was Williams who looked really good in this one. Many, including myself, felt that Williams did enough to win the fight. However, two of the three judges gave the split decision to Popov advancing him to the semifinals.

PFL World Tournament Semifinals

The heavyweights will next compete on June 27th in Chicago at the Wintrust Arena. The semifinal matchups can be viewed below.

• Valentin Moldavsky vs. Alexandr Romanov
• Oleg Popov vs. Rodrigo Nascimento