Ante Delija Foils Maurice Greene’s Heavyweight Playoff Bid in PFL 5 Headliner

Ante Delija made sure someone would be there to keep him company on the outside looking in when the Professional Fighters League playoffs start in August.

The Mirko Filipovic protégé bounced back from a tepid start to outstrike and outgrapple Maurice Greene to a unanimous decision across three rounds in the PFL 5 headliner on Friday at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. All three cageside judges scored it 29-28 for Delija (24-5, 8-2 PFL).

Greene (11-8, 1-2 UFC) did his best work in Round 1, where he stalled the Croatian in the clinch, kneed the legs and secured a takedown. Momentum, as it often does, proved fleeting. Delija found his rhythm in the middle stanza, where he engaged his 36-year-old counterpart at close range, fed him a steady diet of power punches and applied merciless pressure. Greene failed to alter the narrative down the stretch. Delija executed a takedown midway through the third round and dialed up just enough ground-and-pound to avoid a restart, ensuring neither man would qualify for the 2023 PFL playoffs.

Meanwhile, Larissa Pacheco took the shock-and-awe approach in the women’s featherweight co-main event, where she dismissed Amber Leibrock with punches less than a minute into the first round. Pacheco (21-4, 10-2 PFL) sealed the deal 0:45 into Round 1 and secured the No. 1 seed at 145 pounds in the PFL playoffs.

Leibrock (7-5, 1-1 PFL), who qualified for a postseason berth despite the defeat, could do nothing to keep the aggressive, heavy-handed Brazilian at bay. Pacheco bottled up the Combat Sports Academy along the fence and let the punches fly. Leibrock escaped for a time but could find no refuge inside the cage. More Pacheco punches found their mark, and the stoppage was called soon after.

Pacheco has rattled off eight consecutive victories.

Related » 2023 PFL 5 Round-by-Round Scoring

Elsewhere, American Top Team export Renan Ferreira wrecked Matheus Scheffel with punches in the first round of their heavyweight attraction. Ferreira (10-4, 4-2 PFL) brought it to an emphatic close 50 seconds into Round 1 and reserved his seat at the 2023 PFL playoff table.

Scheffel (17-5, 2-3 PFL) never stood a chance. Armed with a six-inch height and 10-inch reach advantage, Ferreira uncorked a hellacious one-two and pushed the CM System rep to the fence. Scheffel flurried in a bid to save himself, only to be met with power punches from both hands. A left hook folded him at the base of the cage, and the 6-foot-8 Ferreira mopped up what was left with a hammerfist.

Ferreira has now authored four sub-minute finishes as a pro.

Further down the card, Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Aspen Ladd dispatched Karolina Sobek with an armbar in the second round of their women’s featherweight feature. Sobek (4-2, 0-2 PFL) bowed out 4:57 into Round 2.

Ladd (11-4, 2-1 PFL) survived a near-finish in the first round and rallied to turn the tide in her favor with timely takedowns, positional control and a frustrating clinch. Late in the middle stanza, she took down Sobek, climbed to full mount and positioned herself for a topside armbar. The Pole fought valiantly to free herself, but Ladd pried her adversary’s hands apart, activated her hips and refused to be denied.

It was Ladd’s first submission victory since Sept. 12, 2015, but it was not enough to keep her from being eliminated from playoff contention.

Finally, Biaggio Ali Walsh—the 24-year-old grandson of the late Muhammad Ali—cut down Travell Miller with punches in the first round of their amateur lightweight showcase. Walsh drew the curtain 1:27 into Round 1, forcing referee Rob Hinds to intervene.

In other action, Denis Goltsov (31-7, 9-2 PFL) clinched the No. 1 seed in the heavyweight playoffs with a sensational knockout of Yorgan De Castro (9-5, 1-1 PFL), as a surgical right cross brought their encounter to a close 18 seconds into the first round; Marina Mokhnatkina (10-3, 4-1 PFL) nailed down a playoff spot with a unanimous decision over Evelyn Martins (5-1, 3-1 PFL) in their three-round women’s featherweight battle, earning 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 scores from the cageside judges; Jordan Heiderman (7-0, 1-0 PFL) was awarded a technical knockout and emerged as perhaps the unlikeliest of playoff entrants when Patrick Brady (5-1, 0-1 PFL) suffered a fight-ending knee injury 2:26 into the first round of their heavyweight affair; Olena Kolesnyk (9-5, 4-3 PFL) took a unanimous decision from Yoko Higashi (8-4, 0-2 PFL) in a three-round women’s featherweight tilt, drawing 30-27 marks from all three judges to secure her spot in the playoffs; Marcelo Nunes (10-2, 3-1 PFL) buried Danilo Marques (14-5, 2-1 PFL) with punches 3:40 into the first round of their heavyweight scrap and tossed his name in the postseason hat; Julia Budd (17-6, 2-3 PFL) outpointed Martina Jindrova (6-5, 3-3 PFL) to a unanimous decision—29-28, 29-28, 29-28—in a three-round women’s featherweight clash; and Isaiah Pinson (3-0, 2-0 PFL) eked out a split decision—28-29, 29-28, 29-28—over Denzel Freeman (4-1, 1-1 PFL) in a three-round heavyweight pairing.