PFL Belfast took place Thursday evening with plenty of Irish
influence, and several veterans made memorable statements.
Here are the top matches to make following the conclusion of the
event:
Phil
Hughes vs. Jay-Jay
Wilson
When Hughes had to pull out of the main event, Wilson remained and
faced another rising Irish fighter in Darragh
Kelly. Wilson wasted no time in sending home the Irish crowd on
a sour note, closing the show in the opening seconds to send his
message loud and clear to the lightweight division. The statement
was received by Hughes, who was in attendance and joined the
broadcast to state his eagerness to return to action when he
recovers from his injury. Although he called out Alfie Davis
in his post-fight interview, Wilson should wait this one out and
run back the originally scheduled matchup against Hughes as two of
the best young fighters at 155 pounds.
Dovletdzhan
Yagshimuradov vs. Luke
Trainer
Welcoming
Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Tyson Pedro
to the
Professional Fighters League, 2024 PFL season champion
Yagshimuradov had quite the performance. Things got sketchy in the
third round, when he took huge power shots from Pedro that had him
in bad shape, but after getting a takedown late in the final round
he was able to survive and get the decision victory. In his
post-fight interview, Yagshimuradov said he’d fight anyone that the
PFL wanted him to, so a good fight for the division and both
fighters would be a matchup against Trainer. Trainer last fought in
February and picked up a victory over another former champion in
Rob
Wilkinson, and with champion Corey
Anderson eyeing a fight Vadim
Nemkov, two of the top contenders would be an intriguing
contest to make.
Dean
Garnett vs. Raufeon
Stots
A big step up in competition is on deck for Garnett after handing
Ciaran
Clarke the first loss of his professional career. A veteran
known for being in tough fights, Garnett landed a very clean
spinning back elbow to put away Clarke in the first round, and then
called his shot against another established veteran in the
division. Stots just dropped a decision loss to Renat
Khavalov last week, but has mentioned his excitement for new
blood in the bantamweight division. A matchup between Stots and
Garnett would be a fun match that could go anywhere, either as a
standup battle or grappling contest.
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