PFL 8 Results: Impa Kasanganay moves on to finals, Biaggio Ali Walsh delivers dazzling knockout

Saturday, August 17, 2024 - 06:54

Salt Lake City
Impa Kasanganay | Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images

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

Source: 
https://www.mmafighting.com/2024/8/16/24222198/pfl-8-results-impa-kasanganay-moves-on-to-finals-biaggio-ali-walsh-delivers-dazzling-knockout