⚖️ PFL World Tournament Final: Hollywood Weigh Ins

Middleweight Tournament Title Bout:
Fabian Edwards: 185 lbs
Dalton Rosta: 185 lbs

[ #PFLWorldTournament | Thursday, August 21st | Early Card 6pm | Main Card 9pm | ESPN ] pic.twitter.com/k8t6yrfjcW

— PFL (@PFLMMA) August 20, 2025

The final event of the PFL World Tournament is set for Thursday August 21, 2025 and it will feature three title fights on the main card.  The bad blood between Fabian Edwards and Dalton Rosta leads the event after the two middleweights have gone back-and-forth in the media leading up to the fight.

In other action, Oleg Popov is in his second straight tournament final and will look to complete his run this time around as he takes on UFC veteran Alexandr Romanov in a heavyweight title fight.  Finally, former champion Antonio Carlos Jr aka “Shoeface” will look to win his second tournament as he faces Bellator veteran Sullivan Cauley who missed all of 2024 due to injury.

The event will air be simulcast live on ESPN and ESPN+ in the United States starting at 6pm ET/3pm PT.

PFL Hollywood Weigh In Results:

Main Card:

Middleweight Final: Fabian Edwards (185) vs Dalton Rosta (185)

Heavyweight Final: Alexandr Romanov (263.2) vs Oleg Popov (249.6)

Light-Heavyweight Final: Sullivan Cauley (204.8) vs Antonio Carlos Jr (204.6)

Preliminary Card:

Featherweight: Alexei Pergande (145.6) vs Ethan Goss (145.6)

Bantamweight: Bryce Meredith (135) vs Lazaro Dayron (136)

Middleweight: Impa Kasanganay (185) vs Andrew Sanchez (185.2)

Light-Heavyweight: Raul Magomedov (205.8) vs Guilherme Viana (205.6)

Heavyweight: Sergey Bilostenniy (253.6) vs Karl Williams (253.4)

Middleweight: Josh Silveira (184.4) vs Murad Ramazanov (184.8)

Catchweight: Jean-Pierre St. Louis (176) vs Tyler Ray (175.4)

The post PFL Hollywood Weigh In Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

The Moldovan heavyweight was seen sporting a bag of ice on one hand, and also had to endure a low blow that halted the fight for a time. Ultimately he prevailed, coming away with a unanimous decision win.

On the hand, Romanov (18-3) told media outlets including Cageside Press backstage that “I feel that something cracked in the end of the first round. Two years ago, I broke this hand, and I feel that in the same spot, something cracked. But I feel that it cannot break me. Nothing not can stop me to get on my goals.”

As for the low blow, “I think any man can understand how bad it is when 265 pound guys kick you right in the nuts,” Romanov said with a laugh.

UFC broadcasts are notorious for suggesting that fighters suffering low blows take the full five minutes of recovery time afforded. Romanov, like many, did not.

“You know, when you find your rhythm of your fight, when you find your distance, there’s no reason to take all five minutes,” explained Romanov. “Because your opponent can adapt, can recover more to. We don’t need to forget about this. That’s why when I felt much better after this shot, I decided I had to come back in the fight and win.”

On the final fight of his current UFC deal, Alexandr Romanov hopes the win over Nascimento will be enough for the promotion to re-sign him. “I hope, yes, because I feel that I’m just on the beginning of my biggest jump to the top 10.”

As for who he wants next, Romanov didn’t have a name in mind. He was, however, originally booked against Derrick Lewis at UFC Edmonton. The card was eventually shuffled, with Lewis matched up with Jhonata Diniz instead. “The Black Beast” remains of interest to “King Kong” Romanov however.

“Yes, because for me, it’s very interesting match, to fight with Derrick Lewis. This is a big name, he’s a massive strong guy, and for me it’s going to be a very big test.”

Watch the full UFC Edmonton post-fight press conference appearance by Alexandr Romanov above.

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Romanov, ranked #13 at heavyweight, had originally been part of a planned co-main event with Derrick Lewis later on the Edmonton card. However, that bout was split up, with Lewis given Jhonta Diniz instead (in a fight that was no longer the co-headliner, thanks to Brandon Moreno and Amir Albazi joining the card as a new main event, sh`ifting the rest of the fights down). Nascimento, who was originally scheduled to face Diniz, instead got Romanov. Diniz entered the fight with a ranking as well rounding out heavyweight at #15.

The fight got off to a cautious start, before Romanov boldly rushed in on a takedown. The attempt rammed Nascimento into the cage and before long he was on all fours. Romanov kept the body lock on Rodrigo as he began to pound knees into the hips and glutes of Nascimento. Rodrigo regained his feet for a moment and was viciously mat returned bouncing his head off the canvas. Rodrigo worked back up to a knee against the cage and just kept eating knees. With a little less than two minutes left in the round Nascimento briefly stood again, only to be mat returned. This time, to an even worse position, as Romanov moved to a modified mount position and landed ground n pound. With about thirty seconds left in the round; after softening his opponent up, Romanov briefly went for a key lock submission. The final seconds of the round saw Romanov dropping some well-placed hammer fists on Rodrigo as he tried to protect himself off his back against the cage.

The second round began with a short striking exchange that put both men on notice. Romanov was able to get things back under control by initiating the clinch and moving the fight against the cage.  From there it was the same story with grappling control out of Romanov. Mid way thru the round and Nascimento returned to his feet. After an uneventful few seconds in the ref made the decision to separate the weary big boys. Once back into space Romanov, hands down, popped out the jab. Every shot that landed produced an audible crack to the exclamations of the Candian crowd. Nascimento landed a low kick in response to sweeping left hand from Romanov. After the action resumed Romanov got right back to work getting the better of the exchanges on the feet. Nascimento looked a little hesitant of the takedown but continued to come forward as the round ended.

The final round began with Romanov plowing Nascimento into the cage before awkwardly sprawling back into space. The stadium erupted as it appeared that Romanov was hurt for a moment. Alexandr got back to work landing single shots and sliding out of the way of the counters. Nascimento continued to fight patiently or hesitantly and hardly ever led the exchanges. Romanov landed a spinning back fist and had a lot of success with his boxing combinations. Both men looked incredibly fatigued as Romanov kept his hands down during most of the exchanges. Nascimento targeted the body with a minute to go in the fight and continued to move forward but looked extremely hesitant to throw. Alexandr circled on the outside looking exhausted and landed a superman punch to punctate his sure decision win at the end of the fight.

Official Result: Alexandr Romanov def Rodrigo Nascimento by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

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The fight began with Romanov looking to cut off the cage and put Ivanov on the back foot. A minute went by in the fight and not a single strike had been thrown, showcasing just how this fight was going to go. Around one minute and 15 seconds in, the first strike of the fight was thrown and it was Romanov who tried to land the big over-hand left.

Blagoy Ivanov began to work on his counter-striking and was able to land a counter left hook to the body of Romanov. With just over two minutes left, Romanov attempted a level change but Ivanov was wise to it and stuffed the takedown with complete ease. Ivanov landed a big 1-2 down the pipe moments after with that being clearly the biggest moment of the fight to that point. Alexandr Romanov looked to begin landing the low calf kick but as he stepped in to land it, he found himself getting hit with counters. With just under 10 seconds left of the round, Romanov clinched up and pushed Blagoy back against the cage, marking the end of the first five minutes.

With the first round being relatively close to call, both fighters came into round two knowing they’d need to up their output. Romanov was the one who was clearly trying to lead the dance and make this his fight, but Ivanov was the one who seemed to be landing more frequently with his counter strikes. A double jab landed for Ivanov as Alexandr looked to once again land his low kick. Similarly to round one, both fighters were relatively passive through the second round, but with just over one minute left, Romanov landed a 1-2 of his own that backed Ivanov up. From there Romanov was able to secure himself a takedown where he controlled for the rest of the round, where he was able to inflict a small amount of damage.

As a result of Romanov’s ground-and-pound, Ivanov’s left eye began swelling and looked slightly compromised. Ivanov’s heart is something that is never in question though and he was able to make it to the final round. The first few shots Romanov threw in the opening moments of round three were the calf kicks as they clearly seemed to compromise the 36-year-old. The two big hitters began to let their hands go with them both landing big punches as they both seemed to tire. Ivanov’s counter striking continued to play a part and present Romanov with something to think about, but it wasn’t enough to halt the forward pressure of Romanov. With just over a minute to go the two began just trading leather in the centre of the Octagon, something we didn’t expect coming into this matchup. Ivanov’s left eye looked increasingly compromised. Again at the end of the round, Romanov landed himself another takedown looking to finish the fight on top and in a dominant position.

Official Result: Alexandr Romanov def. Blagoy Ivanov via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

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Blagoy Ivanov (19-5, 1NC) will face Alexandr Romanov (16-2) at the event, in a match-up first reported by MMA Junkie.

Romanov confirmed the booking on his Instagram story on Thursday.

Moldova’s Romanov will be looking to snap a two-fight skid come July, having dropped his last two fights against Marcin Tybura and Alexander Volkov. Those setbacks represent the first two losses of Romanov’s career, after amassing a 16-0 run to start his fighting journey.

Romanov is currently ranked #14 in the division, with Ivanov one spot behind him in the #15 position. A former Bellator MMA heavyweight tournament finalist, Ivanov would go on to win heavyweight gold in the World Series of Fighting, later holding that same title when the promotion became the PFL.

Bulgaria’s Ivanov joined the UFC in 2018, losing his debut against Junior Dos Santos. He’s 3-4 inside the octagon to date, and coming off a loss of his own against Tybura.

The UFC’s July 1, 2023 Fight Night card currently features the following reported match-ups:

• Sean Strickland vs. Abusupiyan Magomedov
• Ariane Lipski vs. Melissa Gatto
• Joanderson Brito vs. Khusein Askhabov
• Ismael Bonfim vs. Benoît Saint-Denis
• Jordan Leavitt vs. Elves Brenner
• Ivana Petrovic vs. Luana Carolina
• Max Griffin vs. Michael Morales
• Grant Dawson vs. Damir Ismagulov
• Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Brunno Ferreira
• Kevin Lee vs. Rinat Fakhretdinov
• Alexandr Romanov vs. Blagoy Ivanov

The post Blagoy Ivanov vs. Alexandr Romanov Heavyweight Bout Set for July 1 Apex Card appeared first on Cageside Press.

In Saturday’s main event, Merab Dvalishvili put on what might be the best performance of his career in a beatdown of former bantamaweight champ Petr Yan. Where does Yan go next? Let’s take a look at that and next steps for some other big names.

Petr Yan

Petr Yan didn’t look bad on Saturday, as much as Merab Dvalishvili simply looked fantastic. Yan could not match the pace and output of the Georgian, and what had built up into a grudge match wound up being mostly one-sided as a result.

Yan has now lost three straight fights, and four of his last five. A lot of people did see his fight with Sean O’Malley going the other way (including one judge), so he has a bit more breathing room than he would otherwise. Still, Yan’s next fight is a must-win scenario. His lone win since 2020 came against Cory Sandhagen, who fights Marlon Vera later this month.

Rob Font has a fight with Adrian Yanez in early April — Font is ranked #6, Yanez #12 in the weight class. A fight with the winner, even coming off a loss, could make sense for Yan as he looks to rebuild.

Yan’s next fight: Font-Yanez winner.

Alexandr Romanov

It’s not quite time to panic when it comes to Alexandr Romanov, once considered a top heavyweight prospect — but we’re getting there. Romanov has lost two straight now, and had very little to offer Alexander Volkov in the UFC Las Vegas co-main event. Once his initial takedown was fought off, Romanov looked out of place against the former Bellator champ.

Romanov’s weight has fluctuated between fights, going from the 240s to 260s. He striking has been a work in progress, and it appears that if his wrestling fails him, he’s in trouble. Some time off to work on all aspects of his game would be wise, and when he comes back, someone outside the top 15 would be wise.

Who fits the bill? August Sakai just snapped a four-fight skid and isn’t ranked. He’s coming off a single win, and this fight either sees Romanov bounce back, or rehabs Sakai further after his win against Don’Tale Mayes.

Romanov’s next fight: August Sakai

Ryan Spann

After falling through at the last minute ahead of UFC Vegas 70, the would-be main event between Ryan Spann and Nikita Krylov was shifted to UFC Las Vegas and became a three-round affair. Krylov got the submission win inside of a round, leaving Spann to pick up the pieces after an emotional couple of weeks.

Spann is now 7-3 in the UFC light heavyweight division, which is a very respectable record. The biggest problem is that those three losses have been steps up on competition: Johnny Walker, Anthony Smith, and now Krylov. Spann still has lots of upside, however, and knocked out Dominick Reyes not too long ago (though that win carries a little less weight given Reyes’ struggles). Regardless, ex-title challenger Volkan Oezdemir doesn’t have a fight booked, and is also coming off a loss to Krylov. Book this to see who can bounce back after losing to “The Miner.”

Spann’s next fight: Volkan Oezdemir

Said Nurmagomedov

Said Nurmagomedov suffered just the second loss of his UFC career at UFC Las Vegas, dropping a decision against Jonathan Martinez. He’s 6-2 in the company overall, and remains a threat at 135.

Javid Basharat is coming off a win in January, and is 3-0 in the company so far. He’s also 14-0 in his career, and Nurmagomedov would be a solid step up in competition, but not an insurmountable one for the “Snow Leopard.”

Nurmagomedov’s next fight: Javid Basharat

Guido Cannetti

At 43-years young, Guido Cannetti saw a two-fight win streak snapped by Mario Bautista on Saturday.

It’s tragic that Cannetti lost so much time early in his UFC run. He missed all of 2016 and 2017, and while he has stayed busy into his 40s, that’s a tall order in the bantamweight division, where speed is not just an asset, but an expectation.

If Cannetti wants to keep fighting — and at 2-1 in his last three fights, he should be able to — we have to be realistic. There’s no title run here, but there are some fun match-ups. Cub Swanson made his bantamweight debut in October, losing to Jonathan Martinez. Swanson is 39 and approaching the end of his career. Match the two vets up if Swanson wants to give 135 another go.

Cannetti’s next fight: Cub Swanson

Anton Turkalj

A lopsided unanimous decision saw Vitor Petrino maintain his unbeaten record at UFC Las Vegas. Picking up Fight of the Night in his promotional debut certainly won’t hurt him any, and now the light heavyweight can start looking ahead.

The opposite side of that equation is Anton Turkalj. He falls to 0-2 in the promotion, but the post-fight bonus should keep him around. Up next? DWCS alum Aleksa Camur is 1-2 in the company, and has been out for a while. That works if he’s ready to return. If now, Turkalj probably gets a debuting opponent.

Turkalj’s next fight: Aleksa Camur or newcomer

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The two Alexanders could not be more different in fight style. Romanov is a bulky, powerful wrestler who takes down opponents and smashes them while Volkov is a lanky kickboxer who uses his length to beat opponents up from outside. This was a big opportunity for the fourteenth ranked Romanov to advance several spots in the rankings against the number eight heavyweight in Volkov.

Volkov walked forward to start but was met with a takedown attempt from Romanov. They went back to the fence, crashing into it, but Romanov could not get “Drago” down initially as Volkov stuffed the head. After half a minute, Volkov broke free and landed a kick that hurt Romanov somewhat. Volkov stalked him and Romanov fell down as he ate a right hand, reaching forward for a leg. Volkov moved to his back and surprisingly looked to grapple. Volkov rained down ground and pound while Romanov turtled up, moving at the last second to avoid the fight being stopped. Volkov continued to work the position and then flattened out Romanov completely. Only a few more punches had to be dropped before Mark Smith stepped in and stopped the fight.

💢 @AlexDragoVolkov is still a threat! #UFCLasVegas live on @ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/lm9lLrNXFC

— UFC (@ufc) March 12, 2023

Romanov looked like a shell of his former self in this fight, falling apart the moment he met resistance. The former bright prospect still has potential, but needs to do some work to sort out his game before getting back in the octagon. It was noted ahead of the bout that his weight had fluctuated from 261, to the 240s, then back up to just shy of the heavyweight limit.

Alexander Volkov, meanwhile, proved he is still a top-10 heavyweight and not an easy win for up and comers by beating Romanov in the first just like he did Jairzinho Rozenstruik before him.

Official Result: Alexander Volkov def. Alexandr Romanov by TKO (ground and pound), Round 1, 2:16 

The post UFC Las Vegas: Alexander Volkov Melts Alexandr Romanov In First Round appeared first on Cageside Press.

A rare non-Apex based event in Vegas, the Fight Night show was instead hosted at The Theatre at Virgin Hotels. Yan and Dvalishvili had bad blood between them dating back to the former’s pair of title fights with Dvalishvili’s teammate Aljamain Sterling. Beyond that, the rivalry between Russia (Yan) and Georgia (Dvalishvili) was also in play.

The event was also the landing spot for Nikita Krylov and Ryan Spann, which was supposed to have topped UFC Vegas 69 two weeks ago, until Krylov pulled out due to illness with the card already underway.

The co-main event, meanwhile, featured heavyweight Alexandr Romanov looking to bounce back from the first loss of his pro career against former Bellator MMA heavyweight champion Alexander Volkov.

Full results from Friday’s weigh-in can be found below.

UFC Las Vegas: Yan vs. Dvalishvili Weigh-In Results

Main Card

Bantamweight: Petr Yan (136) vs. Merab Dvalishvili (134.5)
Heavyweight: Alexander Volkov (258) vs. Alexandr Romanov (264.5)
Light Heavyweight: Nikita Krylov (213) vs. Ryan Spann (213)
Featherweight: Ricardo Ramos (154)* vs. Austin Lingo (145.5)
Bantamweight: Said Nurmagomedov (136) vs. Jonathan Martinez (135.5)
Light Heavyweight: Vitor Petrino (204) vs. Anton Turkalj (205)

Preliminary Card

Heavyweight: Karl Williams (240.5) vs. Łukasz Brzeski (245)
Bantamweight: Raphael Assuncao (136) vs. Davey Grant (136)
Middleweight: Sedriques Dumas (184.5) vs. Josh Fremd (186)
Bantamweight: Mario Bautista (136) vs. Guido Cannetti (136)
Women’s Flyweight: Ariane Lipski (125.5) vs. JJ Aldrich (125.5)
Bantamweight: Victor Henry (136) vs. Tony Gravely (136)
Flyweight: Tyson Nam (125.5) vs. Bruno Gustavo da Silva (125.5)
Welterweight: Carlston Harris (169.5) vs. Jared Gooden (177)*

*Missed Weight

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Dropping a majority decision to Poland’s Marcin Tyrbura, Romanov (16-1) now looks to rebound against the towering Alexander Volkov at UFC Las Vegas on Saturday.

“I think a lot of fighters will agree with me, no matter if it’s your first loss, second loss, fifth loss, they’re always bitter,” Romanov said of his first defeat, speaking during this week’s UFC Las Vegas media day. “Nobody likes to lose. But I really think that even one loss can really teach you a whole lot about your career more than the wins.”

With that in mind perhaps, Romanov has been working on his striking — something he feels everyone, quite literally, has been underestimating.

“It seems as though the entire world is underestimating my striking. Obviously his base is stand-up, his base is boxing. My base is wrestling, so the entire world just like you thinks that I’m going to take him down, I’m going to have my way with him on the ground,” stated Romanov. “And yeah, obviously that is in the plans but the thing is, we’re completely improved in our stand-up. We’re ready for the fight. If the fight’s going be left standing up, then we’re going to keep throwing standing up.”

“I think you’re going to be very surprised with the preparation me and my team have done in the actual stand-up department. So listen, if we’re going to stand there and trade for the whole three rounds, we’re definitely ready for it.”

“What I think you need to know is the fight is definitely not going to last three rounds,” the Moldovan finished.

Watch the full UFC Las Vegas media day appearance by Alexander Romanov above. The event takes place at The Theater at Virgin Hotels on Saturday, March 11, 2023.

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Former Bellator MMA heavyweight champ Alexander Volkov (35-10) of Russia will take on Moldova’s Alexander (Alexandr) Romanov (16-1) at the event, which will take place at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Eurosport was first to report news of the match-up on Tuesday. Romanov confirmed the pairing on his Instagram Story.

Volkov has been trading wins and losses of late, most recently stopping Jairzinho Rozenstruik with a TKO finish in June. Prior to that, the Russian known as “Drago” had been submitted by England’s Tom Aspinall as part of the UFC London main event last March.

Having joined the UFC in 2016, Volkov holds notable wins over TUF winner Roy “Big Country” Nelson, former UFC champ Fabricio Werdum, and former Strikeforce champ Alistair Overeem.

“King Kong” Romanov entered the UFC in 2020 as a highly touted heavyweight prospect, winning his first five fights. The first setback of his MMA career came in his last outing, which saw him lose a split decision against Marcin Tybura.

The UFC’s March 11, 2023 Fight Night show will be headlined by former bantamweight champ Petr Yan taking on Merab Dvalishvili. The following fights have been reported for the event:

• Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili
• Tyson Nam vs. Bruno Gustavo da Silva
• Abu Azaitar vs. Sedriques Dumas
• Łukasz Brzeski vs. Karl Williams
• Mario Bautista vs. Guido Cannetti
• JJ Aldrich vs. Ariane Lipski
• Raphael Assunção vs. Kyler Phillips
• Said Nurmagomedov vs. Jonathan Martinez
• Alexandr Romanov vs. Alexander Volkov

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