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Andreas Hale, ESPN
Impa Kasanganay will attempt to be a repeat PFL tournament champion after dispatching Joshua Silveira with a unanimous decision in the light heavyweight semifinals at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
Kasanganay earned scores of 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28. He will face Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov in the finals.
The bout was a rematch of the 2023 light heavyweight finals, in which Kasanganay outhustled Silveira for three rounds to win a unanimous decision.
On Friday, Silveira got out of the gates early and attempted to set a frantic pace by plowing forward and throwing haymakers. But Kasanganay picked off his advances early with counters and used that aggression to net his own striking success.
Kasanganay began to find his range in the second round, using his speed advantage to neutralize his opponent’s forward pressure with a counter right hand and a stiff jab. That didn’t stop Silveira from pressing forward and occasionally finding success by launching heavy hooks off the front foot.
In the final round, Kasanganay closed the distance to squash the forward pressure from Silveira by clinching along the fence and landing combinations on the inside. A late takedown by Kasanganay punctuated the winning performance.
Yagshimuradov won a unanimous decision earlier in the night over Rob Wilkinson in a fight that was much closer than the 30-27 scorecards indicated.
Yagshimuradov was the more technically sound striker in the close contest between the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, whereas Wilkinson could not get out of first gear and found himself on the receiving end of the jabs and right hands from “Wolfhound.” It was a surprisingly sedated outing from Wilkinson, who typically uses forward pressure and volume to get the better of his opponents. Yagshimuradov kept Wilkinson on the outside and did enough to prevent his opponent from charging.
Wilkinson, the 2022 champion, suffered his first loss in an MMA fight since being stopped by Israel Adesanya in his last UFC fight in 2018. Yagshimuradov has won six in a row and will aim to prevent Kasanganay from being the first back-to-back tournament champion.
The $1 million lightweight finals were also set as former Bellator lightweight champion Brent Primus will face the surging Gadzhi Rabadanov. Primus put on a suffocating performance against Clay Collard to earn a wide unanimous decision to punch his ticket to the finals. Rabadanov’s win came emphatically as he landed a massive left hook in the second round that sent Michael Dufort to the canvas and followed it up with ground and pound to earn the stoppage.
Primus and Rabadanov were the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively, and both put together dominating performances to land in the finals with an opportunity to take home $1 million.
The PFL finals will take place in November.