The PFL brought the curtain down on their inaugural PFL Europe season as they crowned a quartet of European champions at the 3Arena in Dublin.
Despite the four championship bouts on show, the main event slot was reserved for one of Dublin's own, as Nathan Kelly extended his win streak to nine with a first-round rear-naked choke finish of France's Dimitry Solimeis.
Kelly's win took the roof off the famous Irish venue and gave the fans the perfect send-off after an action-packed night of fights.
In the co-main event, Germany's Khurshed Kakhorov finished Frans Mlambo to capture the bantamweight championship after turning the momentum of the fight in dramatic fashion with just one punch.
Mlambo looked outstanding in the first round, and was doing well at the start of Round 2 before he over-extended with a punch and was dropped hard with a perfect counter hook by Kakhorov, who immediately swarmed his man and landed a barrage of ground strikes to secure the win, the title, and the $100,000 champion's prize.
The same spoils went to Polish lightweight Jakub Kaszuba, who finished Ireland's John Mitchell with strikes in the second round to claim the 155-pound crown.
The women's flyweight title went the way of the formbook as Dakota Ditcheva underlined her star-making season with another blistering performance to force her fight with Valentina Scatizzi to be stopped between the first and second rounds.
Scatizzi applied plenty of forward pressure early as she looked to smother the striking skills of Ditcheva. But the Mancunian showed smart footwork to maintain enough separation to let her strikes go, and when Scatizzi did get too close, Ditcheva locked up a tight Muay Thai plum and punished the Italian to the body and face with a succession of nasty knees.
Those knees eventually brought about the end of the fight, as Ditcheva sent Scatizzi back to her corner at the end of the round sporting a badly swollen-shut left eye. An inspection from the cageside doctor followed, and referee Dan Movahedi waved off the bout to give Ditcheva the title her performances have richly deserved.
The night's other big championship winner came in the opening title bout of the night, as Slovenian powerhouse Jakob Nedoh turned the tables on England's Simeon Powell to score a huge TKO finish and capture the light heavyweight championship.
Powell looked good early, and appeared to be nicely in his rhythm when he was caught by a huge shot from Nedoh, who followed up to secure a career-defining win. And, in a nice touch from the PFL and the man himself, the PFL's newly-crowned light heavyweight world champion Impa Kasanganay was on hand to congratulate the new European champion and present him with his championship belt.
Also on the main card, there was a crowd-pleasing win for Dylan Tuke, who submitted Yazid Chouchange midway through the second round of their lightweight matchup.
Earlier in the night, the preliminary card served up plenty of entertainment. Nate Kally and Connor Hughes got the night off to a winning start with a pair of hometown victories for the Dublin crowd, before Irish-based Georgian Bondo Kikadze defeated former Cage Warriors bantamweight champion Dominique Wooding by unanimous decision in their 135-pound matchup.
Former UFC welterweight and middleweight Tom Breese then made his PFL debut and turned in an impressive performance to submit Cleiton Silva and put himself in line to compete in the PFL's global light heavyweight season in 2024. Also keen to go global with the PFL next year is Welsh former UFC and Bellator bantamweight Brett Johns, with the ex-Cage Warriors champion stepping up to featherweight and defeating David Tonatiuh Crol with a dominant performance that finished with a TKO stoppage in the third round.
The final preliminary bout saw Weslley Maia hand Lewis McGrillen the first defeat of his professional career. After a fight week full of trash talk and heated exchanges, Maia showed an ice-cold temperament through the first two rounds as he put McGrillen on the back foot with a smart gameplan of controlled pressure.
McGrillen gradually found his feet as the bout progressed, but he wasn't able to completely turn the tide, as Maia ran out the unanimous decision victor. It wouldn't be a huge surprise to see both men in the same PFL Europe bantamweight season in 2024.
2023 PFL Europe Championship: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Nathan Kelly def. Dimitry Solimeis via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:47
- Khurshed Kakhorov def. Frans Mlambo via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:32 – for bantamweight championship
- Jakub Kaszuba def. John Mitchall via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:07 – for lightweight championship
- Dylan Tuke def. Yazid Chouchane via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:36
- Dakota Ditcheva def. Valentina Scatizzi via TKO (doctor stoppage) – Round 1, 5:00 – for women's flyweight championship
- Jakob Nedoh def. Simeon Powell via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 1:16 – for light heavyweight championship
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Weslley Maia def. Lewis McGrillen via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Brett Johns def. David Tonatiuh Crol via TKO (punches from triangle) – Round 3, 3:09
- Tom Breese def. Cleiton Silva via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:30
- Bondo Kikadze def. Dominique Wooding via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
- Connor Hughes def. Sebas Santana Guedes via TKO (retirement) – Round 2, 5:00
- Nate Kelly def. Callum Seaton via submission (anaconda choke) – Round 2, 0:51
