Outside Source
The PFL put on a show at CareFirst Arena in the American capital, where Thad Jean (12-0) and Ernesto Rodriguez (11-2) fought for the vacant welterweight title in the main event. Rodriguez accepted the matchup on 48 hours’ notice after Jean’s original opponent, Shamil Musaev, pulled out due to weight cut issues.
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The PFL CEO believes Shamil Musaev deserves the next title shot
Jean survived a knockdown scare in the second round and pounded out an exhausted Rodriguez to earn a stoppage win in the third period. Martin appreciates Rodriguez for stepping up to save the main event, although the Cuban was originally supposed to fight Aaron McKenzie on the same card. Martin also praised Jean for accepting a sudden change of opponent and would like to see him defend his title against Musaev next.
“Let’s start with Ernesto… 48 hours ago, he was preparing for a different fight,” Martin said in an interview. “We approached him, we gave him a huge opportunity and right on the spot he recognized it and he wanted to do it. And he fought a pretty courageous fight. He wasn’t training to fight someone who is 6-foot-2 and he also wasn’t training to fight five rounds. Which is a different level of preparation. You could also say the same about Thad Jean. Obviously, he came out on top and fought a great fight. But he was training for Shamil, who is a completely different fighter… I would like to see him do that fight with Shamil.”
Martin notes that the event was a great night for African talent as Nkosi Ndebele defeated Brandon Davis via a dominant decision and Eliezer Kubanza made Chris Mixan tap to a Brabo choke. He was also impressed with Rasul Magomedov‘s hard-fought decision win over Sullivan Cauley and Rafael Xavier’s first-round buzzer-beater knockout of Tyson Pedro.
“Tonight was a good night for PFL Africa,” Martin added. “We had two African fighters represent, and both of them came out with really, really stellar victories… And then Magomedov — that was a close fight, and Cauley fought very valiantly… And Xavier, that was impressive — also can fight standing up, fight on the ground. These weight classes are still evolving, but you see nights like tonight, the winners are really putting themselves in positions for title contention.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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