Orlando, FL — Few expected to see the strong start by Canadian Jeremy Kennedy at the 2025 PFL 1 card on Thursday, one that saw Kennedy come out strong, rock former PFL featherweight champ Movlid Khaybulaev, and take an early lead in the fight.
While Khaybulaev would turn the tables in the second round en route to a split decision win, the Dagestani admitted that it took him a while to get his head in the game. The victory was his first action in well over a year, after missing all of 2024.
“Even the first round, I felt like at the beginning I was sparring. It took me a couple of minutes to realize we were actually in a fight,” Khaybulaev (22-0-1, 1NC) said following the fight, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press at Universal Studios in Florida. “Plus I wasn’t a hundred percent because in the month of Ramadan, my diet and everything was changed. I had to train nighttime, you eat nighttime, so it was really hard coming out. But we got the job done.”
On the adversity he faced against Kennedy, Khaybulaev admitted to Cageside Press that “the first round was really tough, I didn’t expect that. I missed a lot of punches, and that took a toll. That’s why in the second round I had to wake up, and make sure I win it back. But hopefully next time is going to be much easier.”
The PFL World Tournament is a new take on the PFL format. Gone are “seasons” that saw fighters earn points for wins and finishes. Instead, the tournament is grand prix style, with fixed brackets and a win or go home format. That means Khaybulaev’s next opponent is set: it’s South Korean Kim Tae-Kyun.
“To be honest I don’t know much about him. I just know he [beat] a pretty tough opponent,” Khaybulaev said of his next assignment. “I will probably take a break of 10 days, recover, and then I’m going to watch his fights and see his strong sides, and work on that.”
Watch the full 2025 PFL 1 post-fight press conference with Movlid Khaybulaev above.
