Tag: 2021 PFL 1

Brendan Loughnane after 2021 PFL 1 knockout: ‘I told you I’m not a joke’

PFL featherweights might need to watch out for Brendan Loughnane the rest of the season.

On a night full of major upsets at 2021 PFL 1, [autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag] found a way to stand out.

“I am the only one to finish anybody tonight,” Loughnane said, boasting at the post-event news conference Friday night. “I am the only one to finish anybody.”

Indeed, among 10 lightweight and featherweight bouts at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J., nine of them went to the judges’ scorecards but not Loughnane’s. He knocked out UFC alumnus Sheymon Moraes with a brutal first-round flurry to get the win at 2:05 mark and earn six points in his first PFL regular-season appearance at 145 pounds.

“What does that tell you?” Loughnane said. “I came out here tonight, (and) I fought a world-class UFC veteran who’s fought Marlon Moraes, who’s fight Zabit (Magomedsharipov), who’s fought Sodiq Yusuff, and I just went out there and dismantled him, put him away first round.”

Brendan Loughnane celebrates after knocking out Sheymon Moraes at PFL 1. (Photo courtesy of PFL)

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It was a nearly flawless performance for Loughnane, who is now on a six-fight winning streak, including three under the PFL banner. Loughnane signed with the promotion in 2019 after he didn’t receive a UFC contract following his win on “Dana White’s Contender Series.”

Loughnane felt snubbed afterward and immediately made an impact in PFL by winning two one-off fights to close out 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic meant Loughnane waited 16 long months to build on those wins.

With Friday night’s performance putting him squarely atop the featherweight leaderboard, everyone in the division is on notice.

“I told you I’m not a joke,” Loughnane said. “I’m here to stay, I’m here to win this whole tournament, and that’s the truth.”

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2021 PFL 1 video highlights: Pettis, Schulte, Palmer go down in big upsets

PFL opened its 2021 season Friday with a main card filled with upsets.

PFL opened its 2021 season Friday with a main card filled with upsets.

The three biggest favorites on the entire card – all with odds of 4-1 or higher – went down to unanimous decisions at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J.

In the main event, former UFC and WEC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis (24-11), who was -600 at BetMGM, was at times brutalized by underdog Clay Collard (19-8) before a third-round rally. But it wasn’t enough, and Collard picked up three points in the lightweight season standings against Pettis, who was one of the PFL’s most highly touted signings of the past year.

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In addition, two different two-time PFL $1 million season winners fell in upsets. Marcin Held (27-7) took a unanimous decision from two-time lightweight season winner Natan Schulte (20-4-1) in the co-feature. And to open the main card, Bubba Jenkins (15-4) dominated two-time featherweight season winner Lance Palmer (22-4) to snap his 11-fight winning streak. Both Schulte and Palmer were 4-1 favorites.

Check out the highlights from 2021 PFL 1, which featured fights in the lightweight and featherweight divisions, in the video above.

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Clay Collard batters Anthony Pettis, survives late onslaught to win decision at 2021 PFL 1

A breakthrough boxer in 2020, Clay Collard carried his success into his MMA return.

A breakthrough boxer in 2020, [autotag]Clay Collard[/autotag] carried his recent combat sports momentum into his MMA return Friday at 2021 PFL 1.

Friday, Collard (19-8) upset former UFC lightweight champion [autotag]Anthony Pettis[/autotag] (24-11) with a unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-28) victory. The judges’ scorecards came after Collard battered Pettis for the majority of three rounds.

After a successful first round, Collard turned in a dominant Round 2, in which he dropped and nearly finished Pettis with punches on multiple occasions. Somewhere in the madness, Collard appeared to injure his hand, which limited his weapons for the remainder of the fight.

Regardless of his banged-up hand, Collard found success with his striking early in Round 3. As the final half-round wound down, Pettis turned the tables. He landed a nasty head kick, followed by a jumping knee. Both blows snapped Collard’s head back, but “Cassius” survived. Collard grabbed hold of Pettis’ leg, pulled his opponent into guard, and survived until the final buzzer.

With the win, Collard extends his MMA winning streak to three. Meanwhile, Pettis has now lost three of five. Friday’s fight was Pettis’ first non-UFC or WEC bout since 2008.

Check out some highlights of Collard vs. Pettis in the clips below:

Official 2021 PFL 1 results include:

MAIN CARD (ESPN 2, 9 p.m. ET)

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 5:30 p.m. ET)

  • Brendan Loughnane def. Sheymon Moraes via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:55 – earns 6 points in featherweight standings
  • Raush Manfio def. Joilton Lutterbach via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) – earns 3 points in lightweight standings
  • Akhmed Aliev def. Mikhail Odintsov via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) – earns 3 points in lightweight standings
  • Chris Wade def. Anthony Dizy via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) – earns 3 points in featherweight standings
  • Tyler Diamond def. Sung Bin Jo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) – earns 3 points in featherweight standings
  • Alex Martinez def. Loik Radzhabov via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27) – earns 3 points in lightweight standings