Sergei Bilostenniy upset Vadim Nemkov to become the PFL heavyweight champion Saturday, beating the Fedor Emelianenko protege in the main event of the PFL Dubai card on Nov. 14.
Nemkov was quick to go for the takedown after a missed head kick early in the opening round, wasting no time before reaching full mount and going for the armbar, but Bilostenniy escaped and returned to his feet. Round two started strong for both Nemkov and Bilostenniy on the feet, with Bilostenniy finding more success in the stand-up
while Nemkov shot for takedowns but failed to secure them over five minutes.
Bilostenniy easily stuffed a takedown attempt from Nemkov in round three, forcing the champion to stand with him. Neither fighter did much from that point on, apart from a head kick attempt for Nemkov that was blocked by Bilostenniy, while the challenger was the one to connect harder strikes. Bilostenniy continued to punish Nemkov on the feet in the fourth stanza, having to worry less about takedowns attempt from the champion.
The final round started and Nemkov, although leading when it comes to most strikes landed on official records, was behind in the scorecards with Bilostenniy scoring with most damaging strikes. Nemkov stayed on the outside, working with his jabs, and couldn’t secure a takedown. Both heavyweights were hesitant to go for it in the final minutes before time ran out.
In the end, judges declared Sergei Bilostenniy the new heavyweight champion via unanimous decision.
Patrick Habirora’s rise continues
Welterweight phenom Patrick Habirora continued his rise in the co-main event with a nasty finish of Omar El Dafrawy. The Belgium star came out strong and had to put his takedown defense to work early against El Dafrawy, but the guillotine choke proved to be the best counter to the takedowns when he put El Dafrawy out cold with a choke before the first round was over.
Watch the finish below.
The main card also featured dominant performances for Oleg Popov and Joji Goto in decision victories against Pouya Rahmani and Sergio Pettis, respectively, and a one-round beatdown for Lewis McGrillen over Nawras Abzakh.
Click here for the complete PFL Dubai results.
