The Professional Fighters League light heavyweight and featherweight playoff finals are set after a busy night of fights Friday in San Antonio, Texas.
Josh Silveira, son of American Top Team founder Conan Silveira, clinched his long-awaited ticket to the 205-pound final against Impa Kasanganay after scoring an incredible first-round TKO over Ty Flores, landing eight knees to the head in the clinch for the stoppage.
Silveira will face Kasanganay in the million-dollar final on Dec. 8 in Dublin, Ireland, as the UFC veteran scored his own highlight-reel knockout.
Kasanganay stopped Marthin Hamlet’s takedown attempts and then floored him with a massive right hand. A follow-up left punch appeared to wake Hamlet back up, but that was enough for referee Jeff Rexroad to end the contest and have Kasanganay go 4-0 under the PFL banner in 2023.
In the featherweight division, Jesus Pinedo closed the show with an absolute beating over Bubba Jenkins. Coming off a huge upset over Brendan Loughnane in June, Pinedo knocked Jenkins down in the opening round but the veteran fighter was saved by the bell. Pinedo came back stronger in round two with an onslaught to eventually stop Jenkins via TKO.
Pinedo will now rematch Gabriel Braga for the $1 million check after the Brazilian scored the biggest win of his MMA career over veteran Chris Wade. Braga landed the better punches on the feet with one-two combos and avoiding Wade’s best moments, including a quick guillotine attempt in the second round, to win a split decision.
The preliminary portion of the show featured a thunderous first-round knockout victory for undefeated prospect Thad Jean and three rear-naked choke finishes in a row for Lisa Mauldin, Anthony Ivy and Chelsea Hackett.
Watch the stoppages below, and click here for complete PFL 7 results.
