Outside Source
Former Professional Fighters League champion Kasanganay used a slowed-down schedule to redefine himself as a martial artist and as a person. “Tshilobo” returned as part of the PFL 2025 World Tournament 10 undercard on Aug. 21 and got back in the win column with a late finish over Andrew Sanchez at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, not far from where he trains at Kill Cliff Fight Club.
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Kasanganay overcame a sluggish start to put away Sanchez with punches in the third round. Competing so close to home supplied the 31-year-old Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran with some additional motivation.
“I’m grateful,” he told Sherdog.com. “It’s a privilege to walk out there and hear your name being chanted. It’s a credit to all the people around me. It took me some time to settle back in and get into it, but my coach told me to not let old ghosts chase you, and I think that’s what happened in the beginning. Andrew is a good opponent. It felt like I was battling him and his corner in two separate fights, which felt cool. I was happy to play that match.”
Kasanganay entered his clash with Sanchez on the heels of back-to-back losses to Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov and Fabian Edwards. The PFL provided the platform he needed to remind his peers of his capabilities.
“I was praying before the fight,” he said. “I asked God to let me show who I am and show who He is through me. We all fall short in life, and it’s cool that God gives us that many chances. To put it in a fighting perspective, we look at our old fights and shortcomings, but you have to remember who you are. I heard my coaches, but I couldn’t put it all together, so I just went forward and trusted in it. To me, that’s dominance, and it’s dominance in your mind that I don’t care about how the year or the first two rounds of the fight went. Look at how I finished.”
As part of an ultra-competitive middleweight division that now sees Edwards and undisputed PFL champion Costello van Steenis at the top of the pecking order, Kasanganay believes he has put himself right back in the mix.
“We’ll see what we do next year, whether it’s the tournament or showcase fights in the [PFL] Champions Series, but I want to stay active, for sure,” he noted. “What you saw in this fight [with Sanchez] will pale in comparison to what you see in the future.”
Thad Jean Enters the Conversation
Kasanganay also revealed plans to start a business venture in finance this fall, adding to a distinguished resume outside the cage. On the hunt for big-money opportunities, he thinks a showdown with PFL welterweight tournament winner Thad Jean—one of the sport’s many promising young stars—could be available to him at some point. He would welcome the chance to test himself against the undefeated Jean, even if it requires him to drop to 170 pounds.
“You’ve seen two great young fighters the PFL has built up in Thad and Alexei Pergande, and they’re doing the right thing,” Kasanganay remarked. “I think people think you have to go to other organizations to succeed, but the PFL is representing. I’m grateful. They’ve changed my life. There’s a platform and opportunity here, and I believe when you take advantage of those, you can do a lot of great things.”
Jean, 27, emerged as the last man standing in the welterweight draw, with victories over Mukhamed Berkhamov, Jason Jackson and Logan Storley. Kasanganay trains with Jackson and Storley.
“It’d be an honor to face Thad,” he pitched. “He took two of my teammates out during the tournament, so it’d be an honor to fight him. I met him after he won his title, and he’s doing good things. He’s a good young man. I told him to take two days and turn his phone off to appreciate his title. He was actually coaching me in my fight from the seats. I’m not going to go at him, [but] if that’s a fight they would like to make and I can make the cut, I’m definitely down.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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