Breaking News: Brendan Loughnane is officially NOT defending his PFL featherweight title. Can you feel the excitement? No, really, can you? Because there’s a good chance that if you’re not an MMA fan then this news has flown far over your head.
But for those who care — or pretend to care for the sake of small talk with their buddies at the bar — let’s dive into what went down at PFL 4 on Thursday night in Atlanta.
Loughnane, who was hoping to secure a spot in the 2023 playoffs by taking on Jesus Pinedo, instead received one of the biggest upsets in PFL history as he was knocked out within 94 seconds of stepping inside the octagon. Ouch.
Both fighters were throwing punches like it was going out of style but alas only one could win and that winner just so happened to be “El Mudo” (which means “The Silent” – which seems ironic considering how loud he may have shouted after that victory).
If anything positive came from Loughnane’s loss it would be securing Pinedo’s place in next year’s tournament where he will face top-seeded Bubba Jenkins while our dear Brendan awaits another chance to reclaim his throne next year (if someone bothers giving it back).
Moving right along onto Movlid Khaybulaev. After being injured and missing last year’s season altogether … cue suspenseful music… he returned this season! And landed a jumping knee during round one against Tyler Diamond with such precision it surely made Muhammad Ali roll over in his grave from pure admiration!
Diamond managed to survive until round two before eventually tapping out, giving us all something more exciting than watching paint dry as we witness these fierce gladiators battle. Speaking of battling—and moving away from wrestling analogies—let’s talk about Martin Hamlet.
After ending last year’s PFL season with a disappointment, Hamlet was all fired up this year and it showed! With his recent win against Sam Kei, I don’t know about you but I can practically feel the testosterone levels within Hen Valley soaring higher than Mount Everest.
I mean sure, the fight may have been even-footed on the surface (like my flats) but Hamlet scored persistent takedowns taking control from round one all the way through to victory in round three. Maybe we should send him after those brazen squirrels that are eating our bird feeders … just saying.
Bubba Jenkins left Sung Bin Jo completely snoring as he wrapped up an amazing first-round victory via rear-naked chokehold. Apparently, it only took 85 seconds for Keith Peterson to recognize “The Korean Falcon” was out cold resulting in Bubba’s advancement into this year’s playoffs…and our mercy of no more terrible play on words or analogies involving pigeons.
As for Josh Silveira during his battle with a high-flying Delan Monte — he quickly picked up six points by brilliantly executing a take-down—but also managed to leave us cringing and screaming ourselves when we saw hot-darn painful looking knee injury sustained by Monte during said take-down. But hey: as any pro fighter will tell you “pain is only temporary glory is forever”…cue eye-rolling
In their upcoming round of semi-finals competition Impa Kasanganay & Marthin Hamlet will face each other while Gabriel Braga meets Movlid Khaybulaev – meaning there’s still plenty of opportunities for spectacular showdowns that make us want to abandon road rage altogether because at least these violent acts have some methodology behind them.
For now let’s rejoice in knowing that another great MMA event has passed under our noses and once again—oh so wistfully—we return back to reality where every day isn’t a toe-to-toe battle (sigh).
Full PFL 4 results can be found right at your fingertips so you don’t even have to get up from your seat to pretend you really care.
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PFL 4 results: Jesus Pinedo stuns Brendan Loughnane with first-round knockout
