Tonight, the PFL was back with their second playoff card of the 2021 season. The women’s lightweight division and heavyweight division took center stage this evening. In the main event, Kayla Harrison (10-0) took on Genah Fabian (4-1).
Harrison was the massive betting favorite heading into the 2021 PFL season and she made it look easy through her first two fights. She completely dominated her first two fights. Genah Fabian was looking to play spoiler by pulling off the massive upset.
However, it was not meant to be. Harrison did her thing and in the first round, she was able to take Fabian down. Once the fight was on the ground, it was simply a matter of time.
Harrison immediately transitioned to the mount and started brutalizing Fabian. Fabian gave up her back and Harrison rained down shots until the referee stopped the fight. Another dominant performance from Kayla Harrison.
In the other PFL lightweight semifinal, we saw Mariana Morais (17-11) take on Taylor Guardado (2-1). Originally, Larissa Pacheco was supposed to fight Guardado, but Morais stepped in after Pacheco missed weight.
The fight was very competitive between these two. Guardado did a good job with her pressure and landed some really solid shots in the first couple of rounds. Morais was able to use her judo to secure top position in the first and the third round.
The last two rounds were very easy to score with Guardado taking the second and Morais taking the third. The first round was incredibly close. Guardado landed the better shots while Morais secured a takedown. Ultimately, two of the three judges gave the fight to Guardado and she will now take on Kayla Harrison in the PFL finals.
PFL Heavyweight Finale Set
In addition to the women’s lightweight playoffs, we also saw the heavyweights battle it out for a spot in the PFL finals. In the first heavyweight semifinal matchup we saw the 2 and 3 seed go head-to-head as Russia’s Denis Goltsov (27-6) took on Croatia’s Ante Delija (18-4).
Heading into this matchup, Goltsov was a significant favorite. Delija was just 1-1 leading into the playoffs, and nobody was giving him much of a chance. However, he came to play spoiler tonight at PFL 8.
In the first two rounds, Goltsov was really controlling the first half of the round. However, Delija ended up on top to finish both rounds. In the first round, he controlled Goltsov for a significant portion of the round.
The third round was all Delija as he got an early takedown and controlled Goltsov. In the end, all three judges gave the fight to Delija as he pulled the upset and clinched a spot in the PFL finals.
Delija then sat back and watched Bruno Cappelozza (12-5) take on Jamelle Jones (12-6) in the other semifinal matchup. Cappelozza was another big favorite as the top overall seed after scoring two first round finishes. Jones was going to look to be the spoiler in this one.
However, it was evident from the opening minute that he was going to have his hands full. Cappelozza controlled the striking at range and showed off a big speed advantage in his matchup with Jones.
In the second round, a stiff left straight from Cappelozza put Jones down and he followed up to end the fight. Bruno Cappelozza will not take on Ante Delija in the PFL finals.