The PFL regular season is a tightrope walk that offers no room for error, as England’s Brendan Loughnane experienced to his cost on Thursday night at PFL 4.
The 2022 featherweight champion went into the event sitting on top of the 145-pound standings and knowing that a win of any kind would punch his ticket to the 2023 PFL Playoffs. But, in a demonstration of just how unforgiving the PFL format can be, Loughnane was stopped by Jesus Pinedo in the biggest shock of the season so far to earn a spot in the featherweight final four and eliminate last year’s champion in the process.
Pinedo connected with a perfectly-timed knee that stunned Loughnane and sent him to the mat, where a barrage of hammerfists forced the fight to be waved off just one minute, 34 seconds into the matchup. The win secured him the fourth and final spot in the PFL’s featherweight playoffs.
Loughnane tweeted his congratulations to Pinedo after the fight, posting, “Congrats champ. Took your opportunity and got me good. In 44 fights that’s the first time I’ve been stopped. Warrior.” He later tweeted, “High level sport is crazy. I’ll be back.”
Pinedo’s win bumped former finalist and multi-time semi-finalist Chris Wade from the playoff places, despite Wade’s superb first-round submission finish of Ryoji Kudo earlier in the night.
Former Brave FC champion Bubba Jenkins picked up a first-round rear-naked choke victory over Jo Sungbin to claim a “Quick 6” win and finish the regular season in the number-one spot in the standings. Brazil’s Gabriel Braga heads into the playoffs as the second seed after a first-round knockout of Marlon Moraes, who announced his retirement from MMA after the matchup.
The third qualification spot went to 2021 featherweight champion Movlid Khaybulaev, who submitted Tyler Diamond with a second-round arm-triangle choke to secure his spot in the final four. They joined the night’s shock winner Pinedo as the four fighters who will move on to the featherweight playoffs in San Antonio.
In the light heavyweight division, American Josh Silveira secured maximum points from his two regular season bouts with a first-round TKO win over Brazil’s Delan Monte. A knee injury unfortunately forced Monte out of the fight just 90 seconds into the contest, gifting Silveira a “Quick 6” win and the top spot in the 205-pound standings.
Second place went to Norwegian grappling ace Marthin Hamlet, who followed up on his first-round victory in his first bout with a unanimous decision victory over Australia’s Sam Kei, while the third qualification place was earned by Impa Kasanganay, thanks to his second-round arm-triangle choke submission of Tim Caron. The final spot in the 205-pound playoffs went to Ty Flores, who booked his place in the final four with a unanimous decision over Dan Spohn.
PFL 4: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Jesus Pinedo def. Brendan Loughnane via TKO (knee and hammerfists) – Round 1, 1:34
- Movlid Khaybulaev def. Tyler Diamond via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 4:23
- Marthin Hamlet def. Sam Kei via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Bubba Jenkins def. Jo Sungbin via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:25
- Josh Silveira def. Delan Monte via TKO (knee injury) – Round 1, 1:30
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Gabriel Braga def. Marlon Moraes via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:02
- Ty Flores def. Dan Spohn via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Chris Wade def. Ryoji Kudo via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:51
- Impa Kasanganay def. Tim Caron via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 3:52
- Andrew Sanchez def. Taylor Johnson via split decision (29-27, 27-29, 29-27)
- Abigail Montes def. Brandy Hester via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 1, 3:06
- Alexei Pergande def. Akeem Bashir via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 1, 3:40