Atlantic City, NJ — Dagestan’s Movlid Khaybulaev is now a two-time PFL champion, though those titles have come in different tournament formats.
The featherweight previously won the PFL Global season in 2021, and on Friday at PFL Atlantic City, submitted Jesus Pinedo to win the inaugural PFL World Tournament at 145lbs.
After the victory, UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov, who coaches Khaybulaev (24-0-1, 1NC), was on hand to wrap the World Tournament belt on him.
“He is like a brother. We always train, we’ve been together for a long time, it’s like family for us,” Khaybulaev told media outlets including Cageside Press following the event, asked about Khabib’s presence. “Of course it brings me double joy that he was the one to give me the belt this time.”
The victory over Pinedo, himself a former PFL Global champ, did not come easy. Khaybulaev went into the fifth round after being knocked down earlier in the bout, before finally finding the submission.
“Going into championship rounds, we had to put everything out. Yes, for me, I had to give all of myself, and I’m very happy with the outcome,” he stated. The finish came via arm-triangle choke, which wasn’t the initial plan.
“I actually wanted to grab his back and finish him from the back choke, but that didn’t work out. And then this one I practiced a lot of times, and I guess at that point he was weak enough for me to finish him in the fifth round, and I’m glad it was a stoppage.”
Following his 2021 championship victory, Khaybulaev took over a year off from fighting. It seems he plans to be a bit more active moving forward. At 34, the undefeated featherweight has a limited window to compete at the top, after all.
“I’ll be honest, now I start feeling when people say that when fighters age, they’re not the same,” Khaybulaev admitted. “I’ll be very honest, 2021 I felt myself much stronger and more confident. I was at the level that if you gave me [Ilia] Topuria back then, I think I would be able to fight him. But again, I’m still staying active, and that’s where experience matters.”
Watch the full PFL Atlantic City post-fight press conference with Movlid Khaybulaev above.
