Outside Source
A.J. McKee was in peak form at PFL San Diego.
A.J. McKee has the look of a man ready to make another championship run.
Competing in his native California, the 31-year-old Team Bodyshop representative handed Kazakh prospect Salamat Isbulaev his first career defeat, taking home a unanimous decision triumph in the PFL San Diego headliner at Pechanga Arena on Saturday night. McKee (25-2, 4-1 PFL), who enjoyed a brief reign as Bellator featherweight champion in 2021, is 3-0 since returning to the division where he made his name.
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Early exchanges were fraught with tension, and Isbulaev (10-1, 1-1 PFL) appeared more than eager to engage with his veteran adversary. However, McKee was able to weather the initial burst and drag his finish-minded foe, who had only once gone beyond the first round, into deep waters. “Mercenary” was especially effective with his grappling, landing takedowns in each frame and scrambling effectively to dominant positions. After cutting Isbulaev near his eye with an elbow from top position near the end of Round 2, McKee put a lasting stamp on his victory with an onslaught of elbows, punches and hammerfists from full mount in the waning seconds of the final period.
In the evening’s co-main event, Viviane Araujo had no answers for the considerable squeeze of the “Girl-Rilla.”
The ageless Liz Carmouche (25-8, 6-1) made a strong case for a shot at the vacant flyweight strap, as she submitted her Brazilian foe with a guillotine choke 2:07 into Round 2. It was the first time a fight involving Araujo (14-8, 1-1 PFL) ended inside the distance since May 2019. Carmouche, the 2025 PFL flyweight champion, has won four consecutive outings within the promotion.
The 42-year-old Carmouche spent much of a slow-paced opening round defending against Araujo’s advances in the clinch, though she did turn the tide with a pair of takedowns late in the frame. When Araujo shot for a takedown in the second stanza, Carmouche seized her opportunity, quickly jumping guard with the fight-ending maneuver in place. Araujo could only resist for a few seconds before asking out of the fight — suffering the first submission defeat of her professional tenure.
Elsewhere, a disciplined and technical approach carried Alexandr Shabliy (25-4, 1-0 PFL) to a clear-cut unanimous decision triumph over 2025 PFL tournament champion Alfie Davis (20-7-1, 3-2 PFL) in a lightweight tilt. All three cageside judges submitted tallies in favor of the Russian: 30-27, 30-27 and 30-27. It was Shabliy’s first appearance since a loss to Usman Nurmagomedov in a lightweight title bout under the Bellator banner in September 2024.
Shabliy landed the most offense of consequence, attacking with crisp counters while occasionally blending in timely takedowns to keep his foe off balance. His best moment came in Round 2, when he buckled Davis with a left hook following a failed spinning attack from the Brit. If Shabliy had more time, he might have been able to end the bout there, but a reeling Davis was saved by the bell. It was more of the same for Shabliy in Round 3, as he repeatedly beat Davis to the punch while deftly moving out of danger when his opponent attempted to answer.
2022 PFL champion Rob Wilkinson (20-5, 1 NC, 7-3 PFL) survived an early Abraham Bably (8-3, 3-3) surge to give his opponent a rude welcome to the light heavyweight division. A series of unanswered left hands on the canvas brought a halt to the contest 3:23 into Round 2, ending a three-bout skid for Wilkinson in the process.
Bably, the 2025 PFL Africa heavyweight champion, put Wilkinson on his heels in the opening period by pressuring and winging power punches. When a finish didn’t arrive, “One and Only” also dictated the action in the clinch. However, after having stopped his previous three foes inside of a round, Bably’s gas tank waned in the second stanza. Wilkinson began to seize control for good when he defended a Bably takedown while landing a series of unanswered punches and elbows to the side of the head. The two-time UFC veteran then secured a rear body lock and powered his adversary face-first to the canvas. From there, Wilkinson teed off with the final salvo until referee Blake Grice decided he had seen enough.
In preliminary action: Competing for the first time in two years, Khasan Magomedsharipov (11-0, 1-0) submitted one-time UFC vet Joshua Weems (17-9, 0-1 PFL) with an arm-triangle choke 2:10 into the first round of their featherweight clash; 2025 flyweight finalist Jena Bishop (11-3, 5-3 PFL) submitted UFC veteran Ariane Lipski da Silva (18-12, 1-1 PFL) with an armbar 4:08 into the opening frame at 125 pounds; After missing weight, Sarvarjon Khamidov (17-1, 1-1 PFL) submitted 2025 PFL bantamweight tournament finalist Justin Wetzell (12-4, 2-2 PFL) with a rear-naked choke — though referee Blake Grice may mistakenly thought Wetzell was unconscious when he called off the fight — at the 4:11 mark of the second frame in a catchweight matchup; Former Legacy Fighting Alliance queen Shannon Clark (8-1, 1-0 PFL) brutalized Ilara Joanne (13-11, 2-3 PFL) with close quarters knees and punches en route to a technical knockout victory 1:43 into Round 3 at flyweight and Xtreme Couture product Cobey Fehr (4-0, 1 NC, 1-0 PFL) submitted professional newcomer Daniel Bzdigian (0-1, 0-1 PFL) with a brabo choke 2:00 into the opening round of their bantamweight clash.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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