The incredible evening in Atlantic City was concluded by the Brazilian Renan Ferreira (7-2) who, to the surprise of many, stopped the legendary and favored compatriot Fabricio Werdum (24-10-1) by knockout in the first round.

For the former UFC champion, this was the first match since leaving the world’s leading MMA promotion, and he will be remembered for a very controversial situation.

In the main match of the PFL event held on Friday, Werdum very quickly moved the fight to the ground floor and found himself in a position to register a new victory and justify expectations by suffocating (triangle choke). It looked well-furnished, Ferreira was definitely in trouble from which he tried to get out with punches, and at one point, as the footage showed, he might even have tapped, but the one who was supposed to see it.

The referee in charge of this fight was on the opposite side and he missed the situation. In the meanwhile, Renan Ferreira caught some air and knocked out Werdum with a series of heavy blows, and grabbed six valuable points in the first round of this heavyweight tournament.

“I think everyone saw the fight. He tapped! I have respect for my opponent, so I stopped immediately. I have been fighting for 23 years and when someone taps with an open hand I have to stop. In my mind, the match was over. ” – Said Fabricio Werdum after the fight

Check out the finish of the fight between Werdum and Ferreira:

An interesting fact is that Ferreira played Werdum in a film about Jiu-Jitsu legend named Fernando ‘Terere’ Augusto. (“The Black Belt – The real story of Fernando Terere.”)

‘Terere’ is a popular jiu-jitsu master and two-time IBJJF world champion in the middleweight category, and in 2004 he decided to try out in the super heavyweight division and lost to Fabricio in the IBJJF final. A movie about his life and career should have its premiere later this year.

Convincing Harrison

In the title fight of the PFL 3 event, Kayla Harrison (9-0) justified the role of a huge favorite and stopped Mariana Morais (16-11) with a technical knockout in the first round.

Undefeated Harrison very quickly caught her opponent in a clinch and after 45 seconds moved the fight to the ground floor. And once she found herself where she was strongest, Kayla ended up in a ‘full mount’ and with a series of blows shortly afterward forced the referee to stop the match.

PFL 3 results:

Renan Ferreira def. Fabricio Werdum via KO – R1, 2:32

Kayla Harrison def. Mariana Morais via TKO – R1, 1:23

Brandon Sayles def. Mohammed Usman via submission (rear-naked choke) – R2, 3:42

Larissa Pacheco def. Julija Pajic via TKO – R1, 0:51

Intro Fights:

Bruno Cappelozza def. Ante Delija via KO – R1, 0:46

Kaitlin Young def. Cindy Dandois via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Genah Fabian def. Laura Sanchez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Denis Goltsov def. Muhammed Dereese via TKO – R1, 4:21

Taylor Guardado def. Helena Kolesnyk via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-26, 30-26)

Magomed Umalatov def. Kyron Bowen via TKO – R2, 0:07

NEW PFL rules

Instead of the previous format, within which 12 fighters per category competed and eight of them passed to the second round, this time out of ten fighters, four of them pass to the second round. That would mean that there are no more quarterfinals.

For those unfamiliar with PFL’s scoring system in the first part of the tournament, winning by a break in the first round brings six points, in the second five, and in the third four. Winning by referee’s decision brings three points.

The final winner of the competition in each category is awarded a million-dollar prize.

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