Brendan Loughnane will not defend his PFL featherweight title.
On Thursday night in Atlanta, Loughnane headlined the PFL 4 and faced off against Jesus Pinedo with a 2023 playoff berth at stake. A win would move Loughnane further while Pinedo needed a quick stoppage and “El Mudo” delivered and pulled off one of the biggest upsets in PFL history with a 94-second knockout.
Both Loughnane and Pinedo played aggressively, pushing forward and trying to find a home for their punches. Pinedo quickly found success by constantly moving and landing some good right hands.
As a result, Loughnane tried to get in and that proved to be the worst idea as Pinedo landed a beautiful kneel in the clinch that stunned the reigning PFL champion and dropped him to the canvas. Pinedo jumped over him and a few hammerfists later, Loughnane suddenly suffered the first defeat of his career.
The win secured Pinedo his spot in the 2023 Featherweight Playoffs, where he will face top seed Bubba Jenkins. Loughnane has since been eliminated from the playoffs and will have to wait until next year to regain the featherweight championship.
Khaybulaev breaks Diamond
After an injury ruled him out of the 2022 PFL season, Movlid Khaybulaev is back with a vengeance.
At the end of the first round, Khaybulaev landed a jumping knee that knocked Tyler Diamond down. Khaybulaev tried to stop the fight, but Diamond survived with only seconds left.
In the second moment, Khaybulaev took full control and immediately shot a takedown and brought it to Diamond. The Team Alpha Male product did their best to fend off Khaybulaev but failed as the former PFL champion eventually pocketed an arm triangle choke and took the ball.
The win secured Khaybulaev third place in the featherweight playoffs, where he will face Gabriel Braga in the semifinals.
Hamlet displaces Kei
After a disappointing end to his PFL season in 2022, Marthin Hamlet made amends in 2023.
After a first-round submission win earlier this season, Hamlet was already secured for the 2023 playoffs against Sam Kei, but that didn’t stop the Norwegian from trying his best to secure first place. Though the fight was evenly fought on the feet, Hamlet consistently managed to pull off takedowns and capture defenses, threatening chokes and backpack punches. Kei showed stamina and skill and was able to break out of the poor positions, but failed to generate enough offensive power to overcome the setbacks.
Hamlet meets Impa Kasanganay on August 4th.
Jenkins is sleeping Sung Bin Jo
Bubba Jenkins wasted no time in redeeming his ticket to the PFL playoffs.
Almost immediately after his fight with Sung Bin Jo, the former NCAA National Champion shot at “The Korean Falcon” and suffered a rear waistlock, which he used to immediately suplex Sungbin.
It was formulaic from there, as Jenkins quickly applied a rear-naked choke that eventually put Sungbin to sleep as he refused to tap. Just 85 seconds into the fight, referee Keith Peterson stepped in to parry the unconscious Sungbin, giving Jenkins his seventh win in the PFL and earning his berth in the 2023 Featherweight Playoffs.
takedown goes Monte screams
Josh Silveira quickly grabbed a six, but it wasn’t how he wanted it.
A takedown 90 seconds into Silveira’s fight with Delan Monte resulted in what appeared to be a serious knee injury that caused Monte to scream in pain on the canvas. The win put Silveira on top, but he couldn’t help but feel sorry for Monte, who was helped out of the canvas, still in pain.
Silveira meets Ty Flores in the semifinals on August 4th.
Full PFL 4 results:
Jesus defeated Pinedo. Brendan Loughnane via TKO (knees and punches) – Round 1, 1:34
Defeated Movlid Khaybulaev. Tyler Diamond per submission (arm triangle choke) – Round 2, 4:23
Martin defeated Hamlet. Sam Kei by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Bubba Jenkins defeated. Sung Bin Jo by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) – Round 1, 1:25
Josh Silveira defeated. Delan Monte via TKO (knee injury) – Round 1, 1:30
Gabriel Braga defeated. Marlon Moraes via KO (punch) – Round 1, 3:02
Ty Flores defeated. Dan Spohn by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Chris Wade defeated. Ryoji Kudo by Submission (Guillotine) – Round 1, 4:15
Defeated Impa Kasanganay. Tim Caron via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 3:52
Andrew Sanchez defeated. Taylor Johnson via split decision (29-27, 27-29, 29-27)
Abigail Montes defeated. Brandy Hester via TKO (Ground and Pound) – Round 1, 3:06
Alexei Pergande defeated. Akeem Bashir via submission (D’Arce Choke) – Round 1, 3:14