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The 2024 PFL World Championship in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia closed out with a featherweight title bout between Brendan Loughnane and the undefeated Timur Khizriev.

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Khizriev Outclasses Loughnane In Main Event

A PFL tournament winner in 2022, Loughnane's 2024 run saw the 34-year-old give a rude promotional welcome to Bellator veterans Pedro Carvalho, Justin Gonzales, and Kai Kamaka to book his spot in the featherweight finals.

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Khizriev joined Bellator in 2022 and collected three wins before the promotion was acquired by the PFL, and in his first PFL tournament "Imam" defeated fellow Bellator veterans Brett Johns and Enrique Barzola before taking a split decision over Gabriel Braga in the playoffs.

The 29-year-old was favored to spoil Loughnane's plans of becoming a two-time tournament winner in Riyadh, and after the two exchanged strikes during the opening two minutes Khizriev hit a perfectly-timed takedown to bring his opponent to the mat for the rest of the round.

The two men were content to stand and trade for the entirety of the second round and most of the third before Khizriev once again took a bloodied Loughnane to the canvas, and although the former champion found some success in the later rounds it was clear that "Imam" had added to his undefeated record when the final bell sounded.

This article first appeared on MMA on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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