Kayla Harrison-Larissa Pacheco, Brendan Loughnane-Bubba Jenkins Finals Set for PFL

The assault was felonious in nature.

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison dispatched Martina Jindrova with a first-round arm-triangle choke, as their Professional Fighters League women’s lightweight semifinal headlined PFL 9 on Saturday at Copper Box Arena in London. Jindrova (6-3, 3-1 PFL) capitulated 3:17 into Round 1, the latest victim of the PFL’s runaway freight train.

Harrison (15-0, 14-0 PFL) caught a kick from the Czech, dumped her to the mat and immediately transitioned to side control. She softened Jindrova with ground-and-pound, climbed to full mount and pounded away with punches. Harrison fished briefly for an armbar, then clamped down on the arm-triangle and elicited the tapout. It was a flawless performance.

The win pushed Harrison into the 2022 lightweight final, where she will seek her third consecutive league championship and another $1 million payday against Larissa Pacheco on Nov. 25. Pacheco (18-4, 7-2 PFL) buried Helena Kolesnyk with punches in the first round of their featherweight semifinal. Kolesnyk (7-5, 2-3 PFL) succumbed to blows 2:09 into Round 1, her two-fight winning streak having run its course.

From the start, there was an air of inevitability about the outcome. Pacheco connected with an overhand right behind a partially blocked head kick, moved into open space and went about stalking her prey. She eventually pinned Kolesnyk to the fence, forced the Ukrainian to exchange and folded her with a left hook. Pacheco then followed with a burst of punches on her crouched counterpart, prompting the stoppage.

Pacheco will carry a five-fight winning streak into the tournament final.

Meanwhile, constant stance switches, a surgical jab and punishing right hands spurred Brendan Loughnane to a unanimous decision over Chris Wade in their emotionally charged featherweight semifinal. All three cageside judges struck 30-27 scorecards for Loughnane (24-4, 7-1 PFL), who has won three straight bouts.

Wade (22-8, 10-5 PFL) seized the reins in the first round, where he connected with a head kick, powered into top position and eventually ran the Englishman through a series of clinches and single-leg takedown attempts. Loughnane was not dissuaded. He pieced together a magnificent middle stanza, as he drilled the former Ring of Combat champion with jabs, sometimes two at a time, and often backed them up with stiff right crosses. Loughnane dazed the Long Island MMA rep with a counter right early in Round 3, continued to fire the jab, incorporated damaging leg kicks and never again relinquished control of the situation.

The victory propels Loughnane into the 2022 featherweight final, where a date with Bubba Jenkins and a shot at a $1 million prize awaits in November. Jenkins (19-5, 5-1 PFL) turned away Ryoji Kudo with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their featherweight semifinal. Finished for the first time in 16 career bouts, Kudo (11-4-1, 1-2 PFL) conceded defeat 1:49 into Round 1.

The 34-year-old Jenkins was technically and physically overwhelming. He executed a pair of beautiful belly-to-back suplexes inside the first minute, then settled into the clinch. The onetime NCAA wrestling champion then maneuvered into position to land another takedown, anchored himself during the subsequent scramble and cinched the choke with Kudo (11-4-1, 1-2 PFL) in an upright position. The Tribe Tokyo MMA rep collapsed downward in a last-ditch effort to shake Jenkins, only to surrender moments later.

Jenkins has rattled off three consecutive victories.

In other action, Dakota Ditcheva (6-0, 1-0 PFL) struck Hassna Gabner (4-2, 0-1 PFL) into submission with a knee to the body 58 seconds into the first round of their women’s flyweight showcase; Simeon Powell (7-0, 3-0 PFL) chopped down Joao Paulo Fagundes (7-1, 0-1 PFL) with leg kicks 1:56 into the second round of their light heavyweight feature; Stuart Austin (16-8, 1-2 PFL) earned a split decision—28-29, 29-28, 30-27—over Sofiane Boukichou (9-5, 0-0 PFL) in a three-round heavyweight affair; Aleksandrs Chizovs (10-1, 1-0 PFL) put away Omar Hussein Abufarah (9-4, 0-1 PFL) with a rear-naked choke 4:12 into the second round of their lightweight tilt; Zebenzui Ruiz (11-3, 1-0 PFL) took a unanimous decision from Raphael Uchegbu (6-1, 0-1 PFL) in a three-round bantamweight pairing, drawing 29-28, 29-28 and 29-27 marks from the cageside judges; Ali Taleb (8-0, 1-0 PFL) choked Darius Mafi (4-1, 0-1 PFL) unconscious with a guillotine 1:58 into the first round of their bantamweight clash; Magnus Onyeka Iversen (3-0, 1-0 PFL) wiped out Tayo Odunjo (4-2, 0-1 PFL) with punches 4:36 into the first round of their welterweight encounter; Abraham Bably (2-0, 1-0 PFL) cruised to a unanimous decision over Louie Sutherland (4-1, 0-1 PFL) in a three-round heavyweight confrontation, sweeping the scorecards with 30-27s across the board; and Marcin Held (28-9, 2-2 PFL) disposed of Myles Price (11-10, 0-3 PFL) with a guillotine choke 2:37 into the second round of their lightweight scrap.