The second installment of opening round of the PFL 2025 World Tournament took place on Friday night.
Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida played host to 2025 PFL World Tournament 2 with the focus firmly on the first round of matchups in the women's flyweight and men's bantamweight divisions.
Both rosters went through a multitude of late changes in the lead up to the event, with the men's bantamweight tournament in particular suffering multiple changes due to injuries and visa issues.
In the main event, Marcirley Alves caused a massive upset as he edged out Leandro Higo by way of split decision to advance to the semi-finals, while in the co-headliner, former UFC fighter Liz Carmouche steamrolled Ilara Joanne in the opening round, finishing her with some brutal ground and pound to the body in under 90 seconds.
Mando Gutierrez also picked up a first-round finish as he submitted Francesco Nuzzi to advance to the next round, while Justin Wetzell also earned his spot in the semi-finals as he outpointed Kasum Kasumov.
There were three submission finsihes on the preliminary card, most notably Jake Hadley's 'Scottish twister' finish over Matheus Mattos.
Elora Dana and Ekaterina Shakalova also submitted their opponents to move forward in the tournament, while Jena Bishop required the judge's scorecards to get her hand raised against Kana Watanabe.
2025 PFL World Tournament 2 results
MAIN CARD
- Marcirley Alves defeated Leandro Higo via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Liz Carmouche defeated Ilara Joanne via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:25
- Mando Gutierrez defeated Francesco Nuzzi via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:13
- Justin Wetzell defeated Kasum Kasumov via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Ekaterina Shakalova defeated Juliana Velasquez via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:05
- Jake Hadley defeadted Matheus Mattos via submission (twister) – Round 3, 2:16
- Jena Bishop defetaed Kana Watanabe via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Elora Dana defeated Diana Avsaragova via submission (neck crank) – Round 1, 4:48
