Statements were made in the PFL 8 Playoffs last night in New York City. In the main event, Renan Ferreira took out Maurice Greene in devastating fashion knocking the American out at the end of the first round. Larissa Pachecho only needed 14 seconds to finish Olena Kolesnyk in the co-main event and secure her place in the women’s featherweight final. Here we take a closer look at what went down at The Theatre at Madison Square Garden.
PFL 8 Playoffs Delivers
In the battle of the heavyweight giants, Ferreira only needed one round to end Greene’s hopes of progression. After controlling the majority of the round and landing some combinations, ‘Problema’ countered Greene’s jab with a massive right hand that dropped him. He followed up with some hammer fists to put Greene’s lights out and end the fight with 14 seconds remaining. Ferreira will face the Russian Denis Goltsov in the finals.
Larissa Pachecho put on an equally impressive performance in the co-main event. It took the Brazilian 14 seconds to punch her way to victory against Olena Kolesnyk and claim her spot in the finals later this year. A big right hand from Pachecho landed clean and had Kolesnyk covering up against the cage. Another Pachecho right hand split the guard of Kolesnyk and she sank to the canvas defeated. This was Pachecho’s third stoppage win over Kolesnyk in the PFL and her ninth win in a row. If she were to win the featherweight final, she will become the first two-division champion in the PFL.
The first heavyweight fight of the evening saw Denis Goltsov defeat Jordan Heiderman via arm triangle in the first round. This is the first time the Russian has reached the championship finals where he will meet Renan Ferreira. The first women’s featherweight semi-final of the night also ended in a first round finish. Marina Mokhnatkina submitted Amber Leibrock via armbar, and entered the history books in doing so. It went down as the fastest submission by any woman in the PFL at 1:45 into the first round. She will face Pachecho in the featherweight finals at the championships.
Other Results
Nathan Kelly def. Damion Nelson via unanimous decision
Danilo Marques def. Satoshi Ishii via unanimous decision
Maira Mazar def. Kaytlin Neil via split decision
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
