The final regular-season matchups in the PFL’s 2023 season saw the welterweight and lightweight divisions take center state at the Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta, as the division’s two 2022 champions produced stunning finishes to surge into the playoffs.
In the main event, 2022 lightweight champion Olivier Aubin-Mercier knocked out Anthony Romero with a perfectly-timed knee 28 seconds into the third round to claim a statement-making finish and finish the regular season on second place in the lightweight standings with seven points.
The 155-pound class is topped by American Clay Collard, who stopped last year’s losing finalist Stevie Ray in the second round to take his tally to eight points and claim the number-one seed for the playoffs.
The welterweight playoffs will be headed by Magomed Magomedkerimov, who claimed back-to-back first-round finishes to take maximum points and surge into the playoffs as the top seed at 170 pounds.
But the standout moment of the night came from 2022 champ Sadibou Sy, who delivered a spectacular spinning wheel kick to knock out Shane Mitchell and seal a spot in the playoffs. The knockout, which went viral online, joins the list of the promotion’s top knockouts, alongside the now-famous 10-second jump-knee KO from Movlid Khaybulaev back in 2019.
PFL 6: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Olivier Aubin-Mercier def. Anthony Romero via knockout (knee) – Round 3, 0:28
- Sadibou Sy def. Shane Mitchell via knockout (spinning wheel kick) – Round 3, 1:35
- Shane Burgos def. Yamato Nishikawa via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
- Magomed Magomedkerimov def. David Zawada via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:54
- Magomed Umalatov def. Nayib Lopez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-27)
- Clay Collard def. Stevie Ray via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 1:04
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Carlos Leal def. Dilano Taylor via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 1:13
- Natan Schulte def. Raush Manfio via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Bruno Miranda def. Alex Martinez via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Solomon Renfro def. Jarrah Al-Silawi via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 1:44
- Brahyan Zurcher def. Mike Bardsley via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:45
- Abdullah Al-Qahtani def. Lamar Brown via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:35