There were a plethora of first round finishes at PFL 1: 2024 Regular Season, with Valentin Moldavsky and Dakota Ditcheva having particularly stand out performances.
The card played host to the opening round of the Heavyweight and Women's Flyweight tournaments, as well as three showcase bouts.
In terms of promotional debuts, it doesn't get much better than Moldavsky's performance last night. The 32-year-old did not let Ante Delija get going at all, instantly piling on the pressure, pushing forward and dictating the flow of the fight from the first bell.
Just two minutes into the fight, Moldavsky backed Delija up against the fence before catching him with a huge right hand that clearly hurt the 2022 PFL Champion. Moldavsky kept the relentless onslaught of shots reigning in, forcing the referee to step in and end proceedings. With the win, the Russian secures the top spot on the table after the first round of fights.
In the co-main event, Denis Goltsov had to rally late in his fight against the ever dangerous and in form Linton Vassell, to secure the third round stoppage.
Vassell appeared to tire after a successful first round, as Goltsov grew stronger as the contest rolled on. By the third round, Vassell was clearly exhausted and Goltsov could see the finish so piled on the pressure once more and done enough for the referee to step in and stop the bout in the third round.
Liz Carmouche kept up her 100% record against Juliana Velasquez in their third meeting. Carmouche showed her level throughout the 15 minute affair and secured three points in her promotional debut.
Dakota Ditcheva looked more than comfortable in the Regular Season by stopping Lisa Mauldin in the first round with some brutal body shots. It was the perfect start to her pursuit of the main title, following her impressive 2023 European run which resulted in her being crowned the PFL 2023 European champion.
In the preliminary section of the card, Daniel James placed himself in the best possible position, following his point deduction for missing weight, by stopping Marcel Golm in the first round of their Heavyweight contest.
Former UFC title challenger Talia Santos tied up a first round submission victory against Ilara Joanne in their Flyweight bout.
Oleg Popov managed to earn 5 points when he stopped Steve Mowry with strikes from the crucifix position in the second round of their fight.
Jena Bishop kept up her unbeaten run and moved to 7-0 with a first round armbar against Chelsea Hackett.
Sergey Bilostenniy, Kana Watanabe, Dimitre Ivy and Bryce Meredith all picked up unanimous decision wins.
Watch the highlights, below:
