Both competitors are known as dominant grapplers which made this a very interesting style matchup. Romanov had a near thirty pound weight advantage on fight night; Popov was a smaller Heavyweight in stature but is one of the most skilled fighters on the PFL roster.

In round one, both fighters started out cautious exchanging low leg kicks early. Romanov initiated the clinch and landed a knee to the body of Popov. Each fighter again was locked up in the clinch battling for position at the midway point of the round. Once separated Popov threw a big overhand right that barley connected. Popov seemed to be the quicker fighter in round one landing a few leg kicks and jabs at distance. After five minutes Popov jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in all likelihood.

To start round two both fighters almost immediately locked up in the clinch staling time against the fence. Romanov was eventually shrugged off and landed a knee on the break. Popov bounced back and forth landing a low leg kick and forcing the fight back to the fence. Once against the cage, Popov dropped down on a double leg takedown and dragged Romanov to the floor. After returning to their feet, Romanov landed a straight left hand but Popov walked through the shot and continued to march forward. With little action on the feet for the remainder of the round, Popov could have won this round as well.

The third began with each fighter exchanging kicks early before entering the clinch again. This was starting to look more like a sparring match then a world title fight as the crowd in Florida began to grow restless of the continuous clinch fighting. Romanov began stalling time against the fence in the clinch , as the referee had no interest in breaking up the action. At the midway point of the round, Popov shot in on a single leg takedown, but abandoned the attempt and landed a few good punches upstairs on Romanov.

In round four, Popov started off with a good low leg kick but the fight quickly entered the clinch. Romanov plotted forward looking to land a big left hand, but Popov was able to get away from danger. As Popov retreated Romanov connected on a big uppercut that was his best shot of the fight. Popov covered up and started to retreat from “King Kong”. A damaging elbow from Romanov landed a home before Popov forced the fight to the clinch. Romanov pushed Oleg up to against the fence and started to have his best moments in the fight. Another big elbow landed for Romanov as he exited the clinch. The fourth was the best round of the fight for Romanov but he may have been too far behind.

The fifth and final round saw Popov come out on the aggressive. A big left hand connected for Popov before Romanov started to land quality shots in the clinch. Both fighters seemed to be relatively fresh in this final five minutes. Romanov looked for a takedown against the fence, but was unsuccessful and ate a few good shots from Popov as he circled away. With a minute remaining, Popov landed a low leg kick and Romanov missed on a spinning back kick. After five rounds it was more than likely Popov who would come away with the victory.

The judges scored this contest split with the first two going in separate directions. The third judge scored the fight for Oleg Popov as he was awarded the victory. This was a massive ride back to the title for Popov who fell just short last year in the final.

Official Result: Oleg Popov def. Alexander Romanov by split decision (47–48, 49–46, 49–48)

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In a battle of former Bellator stars, Fabian Edwards and Dalton Rosta headlined the card, with Edwards looking to work his way back to a title shot. He’d come up short against Johnny Eblen for the Bellator title (now the PFL Champions Series belt) late last year; since then, Costello Van Steenis had dethroned Elblen.

Rosta, meanwhile, had avenged the only loss of his pro career earlier in the tournament.

At heavyweight, Alexander Romanov had landed in the World Tournament final after being unable to continue due to a low blow in his semifinal bout. An odd quirk of the rules saw the judges make the call regardless; he was set to take on Oleg Popov.

Where to Watch the PFL World Tournament

PFL Hollywood takes place on Thursday, August 21, 2025 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood in Hollywood, FL. The card airs live on ESPN and ESPN+ in the U.S., and DAZN elsewhere. Full results can be found below. The action kicks off at 6PM ET, 3PM PT, with the main card starting at 9PM ET/6PM PT.

PFL Hollywood: Edwards vs. Rosta Results

Main card

Middleweight: Fabian Edwards def. Dalton Rosta by KO (head kick), Round 3, 1:28 – World Tournament Final
Heavyweight: Oleg Popov def. Alexander Romanov by split decision (47–48, 49–46, 48–47) – World Tournament Final
Light Heavyweight: Antônio Carlos Júnior def. Sullivan Cauley by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2, 3:44 – World Tournament Final

Preliminary card

Featherweight: Alexei Pergande def. Ethan Goss by submission (brabo choke), Round 1, 3:52
Bantamweight: Lazaro Dayron def. Bryce Meredith by TKO (punches), Round 3, 4:06
Middleweight: Impa Kasanganay def. Andrew Sanchez by TKO, Round 3, 4:31
Light Heavyweight: Rasul Magomedov def. Guilherme Viana by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Heavyweight: Sergey Bilostenniy def. Karl Williams by TKO, Round 2, 4:11
Middleweight: Josh Silveira def. Murad Ramazanov via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Catchweight (175lb): J.P. Saint Louis def. Tyler Ray via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

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“I’m pretty calm. I’m here to win this title,” Romanov (19-3, 1NC) told Cageside Press and other media outlets during the PFL Hollywood media day this week. “I push myself hard every day, and now I can’t give this possibility to my emotion, to make some bad moments. I’m super controlled and ready to go.”

Romanov took a strange path to get to this point. His semifinal fight with Valentin Moldavsky ended in a No Contest when a low blow rendered Romanov unable to continue. Rather surprisingly, under the PFL World Tournament rules, the judges still came into play, ruling that Romanov should move forward in the tournament.

“Sometimes during the fight it can happen, the moment that you cannot control. I feel that I did win that fight, I controlled the fight and I feel that I’m much better than him on the feet, on the ground, everywhere,” said Romanov, asked about the odd situation. “By somebody else’s mistake, you can be injured and you cannot continue the fight. That was not my fault, but thank God I recovered very fast, and I was [able to] come back after a week and a half in normal training sessions.”

Following the World Tournament, names like Corey Anderson and Vadim Nemkov could be in play.

“Now I am focusing 100% just to win this fight, but it doesn’t matter.” No matter who the PFL gives him for his next fight, he’ll accept, Romanov added. “I’m here to fight, I don’t care who will be my next opponent.”

Watch the full PFL Hollywood media day appearance by Alexander Romanov above.

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In the opening two minutes of the semi-final matchup, Romanov used the clinch to execute a successful belly-to-belly suplex to ground Moldavsky. Showing in the process exactly why he goes by the nickname “King Kong.”

After carrying the weight of his opponent on the ground for at least a minute and escaping the full mount position, Moldavksy got back to his feet and engaged in the striking, but it wasn’t long before Romanov was once again working to tie up his arms and get back into a clinch position. After a few deep attempts but with no successful takedowns or tie-ups, the two heavyweights began to slug it out with big shots on the feet.

The two began to exchange some nice combinations in the last minute of the opening round but an accidental low-blow to the groin area of Romanov unfortunately ended the fight early due to the fact that Romanov was injured and unable to continue. The knee that connected low left Romanov writing in pain, unable to get back to his feet.

The fight ended in a no contest at 4:26 of round one, with Alexandr Romanov advancing to the 2025 PFL Heavyweight World Tournament Finals via default, based on the judges, despite the bout not making it out of the first round. He was taken out in a stretcher this evening in Chicago due to the extremity of his pain.

Official Result: Valentin Moldavsky vs. Alexandr Romanov ends in No Contest (accidental low blow), Round 1, 4:26 

PFL officials later issued the following statement to Cageside Press:

“Valentin Moldavsky vs Alexandr Romanov ends in a no contest after an accidental groin strike (1st round, 4:26). Per PFL World Tournament rules, for the purpose of determining advancement in the tournament, in the case of a no contest the three judges are asked to choose the fighter who they think had the most complete body of work for the entirety of the fight. The judges chose Romanov to progress to the finals. The official result will remain a no contest. Romanov will face Oleg Popov for the 2025 PFL World Tournament Heavyweight Title.”

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Middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight tournament action was slated for the event, taking place at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, IL. Headlining the show, former Bellator title challenger Fabian Edwards, who was looking to book a spot in the final at the expense of Josh Silveira.

Silveira had been to a PFL final before, coming up short against Impa Kasanganay for light heavyweight gold.

In the night’s co-main event, Phil Davis looked to adance in the 205lb tournament, with Sullivan Cauley looking to upset the veteran and former Bellator champ. UFC alum Alexander Romanov, meanwhile, was pitted against Bellator standout and former interim champ Valentin Moldavsky.

Full results from Thursday’s weigh-ins can be found below.

PFL Chicago: Edwards vs. Silveira Weigh-In Results

Main card

Middleweight: Fabian Edwards (186) vs. Josh Silveira (185.5) – World Tournament Semifinal
Light Heavyweight: Phil Davis (206) vs. Sullivan Cauley (205.6) – World Tournament Semifinal
Bantamweight: Sergio Pettis (134.2) vs. Raufeon Stots (135.8)
Middleweight: Dalton Rosta (185.4) vs. Aaron Jeffrey (185.6) – World Tournament Semifinal
Light Heavyweight: Antônio Carlos Júnior (205.6) vs. Simeon Powell (205.8) – World Tournament Semifinal

Preliminary card

Heavyweight: Valentin Moldavsky (237.8) vs. Alexander Romanov (264.4) – World Tournament Semifinal
Lightweight: Baggio Ali Walsh (155.8) vs. Ronnie Gibbs (155.4)
Heavyweight: Oleg Popov (249.2) vs Rodrigo Nascimento (257) – World Tournament Semifinal
Light Heavyweight: Karl Albrektsson (204.6) vs. Rafael Xavier (205) – World Tournament Alternate bout

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The PFL’s heavyweight World Tournament will see former Bellator star Valentin Moldavsky in action, along with recently released UFC heavyweight Alexander Romanov. Linton Vassell, who competed for gold under the Bellator banner at light heavyweight, continues his heavyweight run. UFC/Bellator Vet Tim Johnson also returns.

Johnson, who made it to the semifinals last season, was last seen losing a short-notice scrap with Vadim Nemkov at the PFL Champions Series: Road to Dubai event in January.

The heavyweight roster, minus alternates, looks as follows:

• Valentin Moldavsky (13-4) of Russia
• Alexander Romanov (18-3) of Moldova
• Oleg Popov (19-2) of Russia
• Linton Vassell (25-10) of England
• Sergey Bilostenniy (13-3) of Russia
• Tim Johnson (18-11) of U.S.A.
• Pouya Rahmani (4-0) of U.A.E.
• Abraham Bably (5-1) of England

Light Heavyweight sees the return to action of “Mr. Wonderful” himself, Phil Davis, a former UFC contender and Bellator MMA champion. Also returning is Rob Wilkinson, a former PFL champ, and fellow PFL light heavyweight champion and UFC alum Antonio Carlos Junior. RIZIN and Bellator alum Karl Albrektsson is also in the mix.

The light heavyweight tournament will include:

• Phil Davis (24-7) of the United States
• Rob Wilkinson (19-3) of Australia
• Karl Moore (12-3) of Ireland
• Marcelo Nunes (11-2) of Brazil
• Antonio Carlos Jr. (16-6) of Brazil
• Simeon Powell (10-1) of England
• Karl Albrektsson (14-6) of Sweden
• Sullivan Cauley (6-1) of U.S.A.

Light heavyweight alternates will be Alex Polizzi (11-4) of the U.S., best known for his Bellator MMA run, and Rafael Xavier (13-8) of Germany.

The post PFL Announces Roster for Heavyweight, Light Heavyweight World Tournament appeared first on Cageside Press.

Despite that, both fighters are expected to remain on the card.

The rather unique situation arose on Tuesday, with a report by Laerte Viana revealing that Lewis will now face Jhonata Diniz. MMA Junkie would later reveal that Romanov will stay on the Edmonton card, taking on Brazil’s Rodrigo Nascimento.

Lewis (28-12, 1NC), the UFC’s KO King, enters the fight at 2-1 in his last three and coming off a win over Nascimento. For Diniz (8-0), it’s a big step up in competition for the former kickboxer, who remains undefeated in MMA following a unanimous decision victory against Karl Williams earlier this month.

While experience in MMA might seem a little lopsided, factoring in a few dozen kickboxing fights, things get a little more interesting in Derrick Lewis vs. Jhonata Diniz.

As for Nascimento (11-2, 1NC), who now steps in to face Romanov, he has not competed since his loss to Lewis in May. Prior to falling to “The Black Beast,” he’d been riding a three-fight win streak. Romanov (17-3) enters off a loss to Jailton Almeida for his part.

Lewis is ranked #11, Romanov #12, and Nascimento #15 in the promotion’s heavyweight division. Jhonata Diniz is not ranked.

UFC Edmonton takes place at the Rogers Place in Edmonton, AB on November 2, 2024. The card is headlined by Erin Blanchfield vs. Rose Namajunas, with the following match-ups reported:

• Erin Blanchfield vs. Rose Namajunas
• Chad Anheliger vs. Cody Gibson
• Marc-André Barriault vs. Dustin Stoltzfus
• Ariane Lipski vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
• Jamey-Lyn Horth vs. Ivana Petrovic
• Caio Machado vs. Brendson Ribeiro
• Derrick Lewis vs. Jhonata Diniz
• Alexander Romanov vs. Rodrigo Nascimento

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The Fight Night event will take place at the Rogers Arena on November 2, and was first hinted at by Jasmine Jasudavicius on The MMA Hour earlier this summer.

The news was made official on Thursday, announced by the promotion via press release.

Headlining the show will be a pair of women’s flyweights, as former 115lb champ Rose Namajunas (13-6) takes on Erin Blanchfield (12-2). Also booked is the night’s co-main event, which sees heavyweights Derrick Lewis (28-12, 1NC) and Alexander Romanov (17-3) collide.

Tickets for the card go on sale Friday, September 20. The UFC last visited Edmonton in 2019, when Max Holloway defended his featherweight title against Frankie Edgar in the main event of UFC 240.

While there’s no Pay-Per-View this time around, the promotion has set up a solid 1-2 punch for their return to the City of Champions. Blanchfield is looked at as a future title challenger at 125lbs, having started her career 12-1 before losing a decision to fellow contender Manon Fiorot last time out.

She’ll look to get right back into the mix against one of the UFC’s biggest female stars in “Thug” Rose Namajunas, a two-time strawweight champ coming off back-to-back wins at 125lbs. Those wins both came in the form of unanimous decisions, against Amanda Ribas and most recently Tracy Cortez.

The women’s flyweight title is currently held by Alexa Grasso, who will meet Valentina Shevchenko for the third time next month in the co-main event of UFC 306.

As for Lewis, the 39-year old “Black Beast” is 2-1 in his last three fights and coming off a win over Rodrigo Nascimento. The UFC’s knockout king has headlined three of the last four UFC events he’s appeared on, and faced Daniel Cormier in 2018 in a failed bid to capture the UFC heavyweight championship.

Romanov started his career a perfect 16-0, but “Kong” has struggled of late, losing three of his last four fights. He was last seen tapping to a Jailton Almeida rear-naked choke at UFC 302 in June.

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Jailton Almeida was undefeated in the UFC, dominating with his Brazilian jiu-jitsu, enthusiastic single-leg, and several heapings of athleticism, until he ran into Curtis Blaydes. Almeida even had success wrestling the former NCAA Division 1 wrestler, but got knocked out at the start of the second round with hammerfists while shooting in. He was faced by Alexander Romanov today – a strong wrestler in his own right, and the thirteenth ranked heavyweight in the UFC.

Jailton came out and went from a single leg to a body-lock to land his opening takedown. He got on top of Romanov, who held onto his overhooks to lock down Almeida, but without trying to get up. When Alexander did try to get up he instantly got his back taken and barely avoided being choked out, or having his jaw crushed. When Romanov tried to get from his knees to his feet, Almeida slithered forward again like a boa constrictor and choked out the Moldovan fighter.

After losing for the first time in the octagon recently, Almeida made a statement this time out, showing that he is still here and will not be supplanted by a lower-ranked heavyweight.

Official Result: Jailton Almeida def. Alexander Romanov by Submission (rear-naked choke) Round 1, 2:27

The post UFC 302: Jailton Almeida Proves He Belongs in Top 10, Runs Through Alexander Romanov appeared first on Cageside Press.

Romanov (17-2) might have a blueprint on “Razor” Blaydes’ performance, but he isn’t reading too much into Almeida’s UFC 299 loss it seems.

“I am not a judge, I don’t make some criticism for this guy. Everybody can win or lose,” Romanov told media outlets including Cageside Press during this week’s UFC 302 media day. “Don’t forget this, is the heavyweight division, and just one single punch can switch completely the situation in the cage.”

Almeida previously competed as a light heavyweight, but Romanov isn’t focused on the weight question. He’s also not too concerned about the wrestling of Almeida, despite numerous opening-round takedowns of a strong wrestler in Blaydes back in March.

“Here in the UFC we have a lot of good wrestlers, a lot of good grapplers. But everybody’s different, and you can take somebody down 100 times in the first round, but after that you don’t have enough power to keep him in the clinch.”

“It’s all about professionalism,” added, Romanov, who suggested that it all comes down to managing your gas tank. He might be right, given Blaydes put away Jailton Almeida early in the second round in Miami.

Romanov is a head coach at Rising Tide Hi Tech Martial Arts in Maryland, and with New Jersey not all that far away, he’s expecting a strong turnout of supporters in Newark this Saturday.

“One hundred percent. I promise you that in this arena will be a lot of my fans, because a lot of my friends, a lot of my training partners, a lot of my students will come and support me.”

Watch the full UFC 302 media day appearance by Alexander Romanov above.

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