It seems that when the PFL acquired Bellator MMA over a year ago now, they also picked up a little bit of the latter’s bad luck.
The PFL World Tournament launched on Thursday with this year’s PFL 1 featuring featherweights and welterweights in action at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. The headliner saw a couple of former Bellator 170lb champs face off in Jason Jackson and Andrey Koreshkov, a pairing that had a tough act to follow when featherweight Jesus Pinedo made short work of Adam Borics in the co-main event.
Yet while Jackson vs. Koreshkov started a bit slow compared to several other highly entertaining fights that dotted Thursday’s PFL 1 card (we’re looking at you, Movlid Khaybulaev vs. Jeremy Kennedy), things went from bad to worse in the second round. There, “The Ass-Kicking Machine” Jackson became the skull-cracking machine, connecting to the back of Koreshkov’s head with several illegal elbows that split the Russian open.
That led the ref to halt the action, bringing in the doctor to determine whether Koreshkov could continue. Though stunned, he was given plenty of time, and signaled that he was ready to fight on.
Not for long however. Jackson soon had the fight back on the ground, where the illegal elbows had originally transpired. This time, he wisely pursued a choke instead, of the rear-naked variety, and soon enough it was under the chin. Moments later, Andrey Koreshkov was napping. Jason Jackson had the technical submission win.
Did Jason Jackson deserve to get a point reduction vs Andrey Koreshkov or nah??? 👀🤷🏽♂️ #PFLWorldTournament
Thoughts 💭🤔 pic.twitter.com/a4U7m6vKY1
— MMA Homie Podcast (@theMMAhomies) April 4, 2025
While the low blows almost certainly factored in, mercifully, the fight didn’t end in a DQ or No Contest. As the ref could be heard explaining to the corners, Jackson’s blows were far from intentional and the fact that Koreshkov’s head was in motion was a mitigating factor.
With PFL 1 in the book, some big fights have been set up moving forward. Gabriel Braga and Jesus Pinedo will meet for the third time, a rubber match in their series. And Jackson will move on to face Thad Jean, who scored an upset win over Mukhamed Berkhamov earlier in the night.
Official Result: Jason Jackson def. Andrey Koreshkov by technical submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2, 4:21
