Outside Source
Per the PFL via a release on Friday, a trio new fights have been added to complete Road to Dubai’s Championship Series 3 event on Oct. 3. The main card came together last Friday, while the remainder of the prelims have now been sorted out. All three new fights are coming at lightweight, perhaps serving as a de facto qualifier for the 2026 bracket.
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While not serving as the top prelim—that distinction currently goes to a heavyweight showcase between Pouya Rahmani and Slim Trabelsi—these 155-pound affairs bolster the billing. The matches will all go down at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The first of three comes between a pair of once-beaten athletes as Asael Adjoudj (10-1) battles Mirafzal Akhtamov (9-1-1).
“The Sultan” has not tasted defeat since his pro debut, which came in the confines of the Bellator MMA cage. Other than a pair of matches under the UAE Warriors banner, all of Adjoudj’s pro appearances have taken place either with PFL or Bellator. The same cannot be said for Uzbekistan’s Akhtamov, who won all the way to his first career defeat that came in June. Before then, the 32-year-old had also competed twice for UAE Warriors, but he got his start with the kickboxing-turned-MMA league R1 in his home country.
The next new bout on the billing comes between Takeshi Izumi (6-4) and Vinicius Sacchelli Cenci (11-3), with the former trying to make good on his sophomore PFL appearance. His debut came against Makkasharip Zaynukov (17-4)—who will be featured shortly—and he came up on the wrong end of the scorecards about a month ago in that outing. “Chambinho” has already prevailed once under the PFL lights, tapping Antonio Caruso with an early triangle choke in June.
The final of the three new pairings—the middleweight curtain jerker of Jarrah Al-Silawi vs. Gregory Babene notwithstanding as it was previously announced but confirmed by PFL in this release—sees the aforementioned Zaynukov get his third crack at PFL competition when he battles Ireland’s John Mitchell (10-2). The Dagestan native has won six straight including five by decision and an injury TKO, while Mitchell has strung two in a row since coming up short in the PFL Europe 2023 Finals.
PFL Road to Dubai: Champions Series 3 Lineup:
Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Paul Hughes – lightweight title
Corey Anderson vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov – light heavyweight title
Archie Colgan vs. Jay-Jay Wilson – lightweight
Lewis McGrillen-Evans vs. Caolan Loughran – bantamweight
Magomed Magomedov vs. Sergio Pettis – bantamweight
Pouya Rahmani vs. Slim Trabelsi – heavyweight
Zubaira Tukhugov vs. Artem Lobov – 165-pound catchweight
Omar El Dafrawy vs. Florim Zendeli – welterweight
Asael Adjoudj vs. Mirafzal Akhtamov – lightweight
Takeshi Izumi vs. Vinicius Sacchelli Cenci – lightweight
Makkasharip Zaynukov vs. John Mitchell – lightweight
Jarrah Al-Silawi vs. Gregory Babene – middleweight
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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