That included middleweight Impa Kasanganay, a former PFL Global season champ, putting away former Bellator standout Dalton Rosta. The knockout came in the opening round, Kasanganay knocking down Rosta then uncorking several powerful punches on the local fighter before the ref could step in.

An emphatic victory for Kasanganay, who puts himself in a great position. Ranked #3 at middleweight, Impa is behind only Fabian Edwards, who just lost a title shot against champ Costello van Steenis, and Johnny Eblen.

Eblen, of course, was anchoring the PFL Pittsburgh main event, opposite UFC vet Bryan Battle, winner of The Ultimate Fighter 29.

Eblen immediately landed a takedown in the PFL Pittsburgh headliner, inside of 30 seconds. Then a second, hoisting Battle up and slamming him down. Then a third! These were violent, offensively-minded takdowns, and when a fourth came, Eblen looked to land punches on the side of the head. When Battle got back up, there was a knee waiting for him, and Eblen remained all over him.

Battle was getting his head rattled and his chin tested. Any time he was on the feet, he was eating knees. Any time he was on the ground, he was eating punches, though Eblen was warned to watch the back of the head. On what felt like the tenth takedown, Eblen took the back, got the body triangle in place, and slipped under the neck. The rear-naked choke was in tight, and Battle had no choice but to tap.

A statement first-round victory for Eblen, who shakes off the loss of his title to van Steenis and sets up a possible rematch later this year. With Kasanganay poised to face the winner if he doesn’t take a fight in between.

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Former middleweight champ (in Bellator MMA) Johnny Eblen looked to bounce back from the first loss of his professional career when he took on the debuting Bryan Battle in the night’s main event. Eblen had fallen to Costello van Steenis for the inaugural PFL middleweight title last year. As for Battle, The Ultimate Fighter 29 winner was returning to MMA for the first time since 2024, when he defeated Randy Brown at UFC 310.

Battle’s UFC run was cut short by multiple misses at the scale, leading the promotion to release him following UFC 319, where he came in at 190lbs for a middleweight fight with Nursulton Ruziboev that was eventually cancelled.

Fighting twice for Dirty Boxing last year, it was back to the cage for Battle, in a big test against American Top Team’s Eblen.

The co-main event in Pittsburgh, meanwhile, had former PFL tournament winner Impa Kasanganay back in action against Dalton Rosta.

Where to Watch PFL Pittsburgh

PFL Pittsburgh takes place at the UMPC Events Center in Pittsburgh, PA on Saturday, March 28, 2026. The main card streams live on ESPN2 in the U.S., with the prelims available on the ESPN app. Full results can be found below.

PFL Pittsburgh: Eblen vs. Battle Results

Main card

Middleweight: Johnny Eblen def. Bryan Battle by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 4:10
Middleweight: Impa Kasanganay def. Dalton Rosta by KO (punches), Round 1, 3:18
Women’s Flyweight: Ariane Lipski da Silva def. Sumiko Inaba by unanimous decision
Featherweight: Alexei Pergande def. Julio Arce by unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)
Bantamweight: Lazaro Dayron def. Jacob Thrall by unanimous decision (30–27, 29–28, 30–27)

Preliminary card

Catchweight (140lb): Jack Cartwright def. Allan Begosso by split decision (29–28, 27–29, 29–28)
Lightweight: Jakub Kaszuba def. Natan Schulte by unanimous decision (30–27, 29–28, 29–28)
Lightweight: Dakota Bush def. Robert Watley by TKO, Round 1, 0:34
Welterweight: Ernesto Rodriguez def. Masayuki Kikuiri by majority decision (28–28, 29–28, 29–28)
Women’s Flyweight: Tatiana Postarnakova def. Elora Dana by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Welterweight: Josh Fremd def. Jarrah Al-Silawi by knockout (left hook), Round 3, 3:57
Featherweight: Frederik Dupras def. Ethan Goss by submission (guillotine choke), Round 1, 2:46

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To open the fight, Rosta threatened a front kick to the body that missed. Edwards seemed to be gauging distance, trying to pick up a read on the timing of Rosta. Each fighter landed a low leg kick as the first minute was a feeling out process between the two. Fabian crashed forward with a straight left hand, as Rosta answered with a right hand. A knee up the middle forced a stop to the action as it landed low on Edwards.

When action resumed, Edwards pressed forward looking to land a straight left hand and body kick to follow. A good body kick from Edwards found a home, and shortly after Rosta crashed forward with his first takedown attempt of the contest. Dragging Edwards to the ground, Rosta was able to secure control against the fence and land an elbow over the top before slamming Edwards back to the canvas.

With a minute left in the round, Rosa was in top position momentarily, before Edwards scrambled back to his feet. After the first round, Rosta had jumped out to an early lead after landing multiple takedowns.

The second started with Edwards pressing forward looking to land a damaging blow as Rosta retreated. Rosta then sprung into action coming forward with massive hooks, Fabian stood strong in the pocket throwing straight punches to answer. Both fighters stood and traded before Rosta forced the fight to the clinch against the fence. On the exit Rosta landed a big right hook that sent Edwards stumbling backwards. Rosta was implementing a very smart gameplan through the first two rounds, giving no space to the technical striker in Edwards. Rosta was able to catch a kick from Edwards and force the fight to the ground once again. Fabian got back to his feet, as Rosta remained in control for the final fifteen seconds of the round.

In the third, Edwards threw a high head kick that narrowly missed. A good knee to the body from Edwards got Rosta’s attention early in the round. Fighting with his back foot against the fence, Rosta attempted to block a kick to the body but it went upstairs instead. Very similar to the same kick his brother Leon captured UFC gold with against Kamaru Usman, Fabian landed a picture perfect left head kick that shut Dalton Rosta’s lights off! One of the most spectacular knockouts of the entire season capped an unbelievable tournament in the middleweight division. A monumental win for Fabian Edwards who became a world (tournament anyway) champion for the first time with this come from behind win.

Official Result: Fabian Edwards def. Dalton Rosta by KO (head kick), Round 3, 1:28

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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 wasn’t even supposed to be in the damn thing, and I made a big stink with my manager,” Rosta (11-1) told Cageside Press and other media outlets during the PFL Hollywood media day this week. “I’m like, ‘who the hell are the eight guys that they’re putting in front of me?’ I was ranked fourth in Bellator, only have one loss, got a win back before they set the tournament up, and it was against an undefeated prospect [Norbert Novenyi Jr.].”

“Caused a little bit of a stink, and they ended up putting me in it. And good thing they did, because look at the finals now, look who’s here. The other six guys are at home watching.”

Rosta never had a chance to compete in a grand prix in his old home in Bellator, but has matured into an obvious threat over the years. Still, more than anything it seems he just likes the active tournament schedule.

“I prefer the tournament layout just because I know when I’m fighting, and it’s keeping me active. I prefer activity. I didn’t like sitting on the sidelines for ten months at a time when I was with Bellator.” Coming from a wrestling background, Rosta is used to competing in two-day events, wrestling multiple times in a day. “I think this is beneficial for me.”

Rosta’s physique almost never goes unnoticed; he carried the nickname “Hercules” for a reason. The secret to being jacked and still having great cardio? Rosta let that slip, boiling it down to one word: mindset.

“Mindset. And at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if it’s ten rounds. I’m going to go out there and put a clinic on this guy for five rounds straight. If it was ten, I would do the same.”

Asked who from the sports world he looked up to in terms of a winning mindset, Rosta picked a fellow mixed martial artist.

“Honestly I think the person with the strongest mindset probably is Khabib Nurmagomedov. A lot of the things he’s done in the sport have been inspirational,” he stated. “A lot of guys like to cite the Michael Jordans and the Tom Bradys and stuff like that, but really those are sports. Fighting’s not a sport. In here, in the cage, it’s do or die. You come out with your shield or on it. I think it’s definitely better to model after someone like Khabib Nurmagomedov.”

Watch the full PFL Hollywood media day appearance by Dalton Rosta above.

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⚖️ 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.

It was Bellator 298 inside the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota where the pair first met two years ago. In their initial meeting, the gas tank of Aaron Jeffery carried him far and allowed him to impose his will for all fifteen minutes, earning an obvious unanimous decision win while handing Rosta his first loss as a professional fighter.

It was another full 15 minutes on Friday, where Jeffery came out and took the center of the cage, using his range to back up Rosta. The Canadian was looking to use the cage wall to clinch up a few times to wear on Rosta, but Rosta did a good job of keeping his back off the cage and escaping the clinch. He also landed a clean elbow on the exit midway through round one.

During the last two minutes, Jeffery clinched up once again, actively looking for the takedown while he also landed a few knees and short shots to the head and body.

When the bell rang in round two, both men came out quick and less than a minute in, Jeffery once again clinched up against the fence for a brief moment before Rosta freed himself. The striking of Dalton Rosta looked very sharp, and his explosive power proved very dangerous as he appeared to be landing the bigger and more damaging shots. The last minute or so of round two was pure pressure from Rosta as he then clinched up and held Jeffery against the cage, working to batter the body of Jeffery.

Earlier in the PFL Chicago Fight Week, Rosta had promised that he would not tire out later in the fight as he had in the pair’s original encounter. This stood very true as when the fight entered the third and final round, Rosta was presumably up on the score cards and came out very active. Jeffery controlled the first half of the final round after backing Rosta up into a clinch again but stayed active within that position, working the mid-section quite a bit. With about a minute left and still standing, Jeffery tried to drag Rosta to the canvas, but found no success before the two broke free and used the time remaining to score any last points, Rosta firing several heavy shots towards Jeffery in the dying seconds of the fight.

The scorecards had it split, with two judges siding with Rosta 29-28. The dissenting judge, meanwhile, gave all three rounds to Aaron Jeffery. That was all it took, however, for Dalton Rosta to advance to the PFL Middleweight World Tournament final.

Official Result: Dalton Rosta def. Aaron Jeffery by split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)

The post PFL Chicago: Dalton Rosta Avenges Loss to Aaron Jeffery appeared first on Cageside Press.

For Rosta, it’s a chance to both avenge a loss, and move into the finale. Jeffery won the pair’s first meeting, scoring a unanimous decision victory at Bellator 298 in August of 2023.

To make it to the PFL World Tournament semifinals, Rosta put away former welterweight champ Sadibou Sy, in a finish he had predicted. In his prefight media, Rosta suggested he would “take him down, put on a wrestling clinic, and submit him,” he told Cageside Press in a recent exclusive interview. “Get my first submission win.”

He did just that, though despite beating a former champ, it wasn’t the confidence boost you might think it was. Rosta doesn’t seem to lack in confidence. Instead, “I think I just put the rest of the weight class on notice. I know how good I am. I knew it beforehand, I knew it during, I knew it after. Nothing’s changed for me.”

Well, almost nothing. Dalton Rosta has been busy improving since that 2023 loss to Jeffery, the only defeat on his record. That includes in the striking department, though he hasn’t been able to show it much. “I think I’m improving every single fight. If I’m not getting better every single day, I’m doing something wrong,” noted Rosta. “However, I just feel like match-ups and stuff, I haven’t really had the opportunity to showcase my striking as much as I would like to. This fight coming up, I feel like it’s another opportunity to do that.”

What has improved the most for Rosta, however, isn’t a specific technique. Rather, “I think my mind set, my mentality has improved the most,” he told us. “I think that’s the biggest difference in me now.”

“Obviously I’ve improved everywhere else, I’m not neglecting any part of my game. I said this before too, I felt I was better than him [Jeffery] back then. I think in the first round, I showed what I was capable of, but I gassed out,” Rosta stated. “And that’s a part of the sport as well, it’s a part of MMA. I fought stupid, I could have fought more intelligently, and I could have followed my game plan better. Those things got away from me, and I ended up losing the fight. I feel like I beat myself that night. That aside though, I feel like I’m 10 times the fighter today than I was back then. So I’m just ready to go out there and showcase a dominant win on my end, and show everybody how much better I am than everybody else in this division.”

Watch our full interview with PFL Chicago middleweight World Tournament semifinalist Dalton Rosta above.

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“I’m going to beat his a** again,” Jeffery said during this week’s media day, referring to their 2023 fight where he handed Rosta his first and only professional loss.

With trash-talk building on both sides throughout the week, questions about rising tensions were quickly shut down by the Canadian.

“Not personal at all, man. I don’t know this guy. We’ve had next to zero interaction with each other, other than the 15 minutes in the cage.”

When Aaron Jeffery first took on Dalton Rosta, the fight came at opposing times in their careers. Jeffery was coming off a disappointing loss to John Salter, while Rosta was shooting his way up the ranks as the next big prospect at 185lbs.

“It’s been two years. Like he says, he’s a completely different man, I’m a different man, it’s a tournament, there’s high stakes.”

Aaron Jeffery on Rosta’s Improvements: “He’s Very Similar”

When following up on whether he truly believed that Rosta had made significant changes, Jeffery backtracked and clarified his statements,

“Yes and no. Guys improve over their careers. That’s what we try and do. To completely change your style, I don’t know how many fighters we’ve seen that have changed their style in the prime of their career.” Jeffery continued, “I think he’s very similar; he says he’s not. Of course, he’s made some improvements, but the style is the same.”

Despite his toughness, Jeffery did manage to wear down and break Rosta in the third round of their first fight, nearly securing a finish, which he plans to get this time around.

“I think he has been known to slow down quite a bit in his fights, and I think that’s a pretty reasonable expectation.”

When asked who he expected to see in the final, Jeffery was conflicted, but he prefers a fight against Josh Silveira over a rematch with Fabian Edwards. His reasoning for wanting the Silveira matchup was unique, to say the least.

“I like him a lot as a person, I think he’s a cool guy. It sounds weird that I like him, but I want to fight him because I like him.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Aaron Jeffery above. He takes on Dalton Rosta in the semifinals of the PFL World Tournament on Friday night.

The post Aaron Jeffery Feels Dalton Rosta’s “Style is the Same”, Wants “Cool Guy” Silveira in Finals appeared first on Cageside Press.

“I’ve missed it. The long layoff wasn’t my choice, but actually it panned out being great. I got the opportunity for the first time in a long time to actually add new things to my game,” Sy told Cageside Press and other reporters on Wednesday.

“Just focus on stuff that I haven’t been able to focus on when fighting, in the season format, where it’s fight to fight to fight. So it’s been good, but I’m happy that we’re back in fight week.”

Sy (17-8-2) has been one of the busier fighters on the roster taking up to 4 bouts per year. The layoff provided time for improvements for the man who bounces between 185 and 205.

“We were able to just shift the focus a little bit. When I didn’t have an opponent in front of me we had an opportunity to actually work on stuff and add stuff and tamper a little bit with things we wanted to add,” he said.

In Orlando he gets Rosta who comes in off a win over Norbert Novenyi last June. Rosta is 9 years younger than Sy.

“He’s strong, athletic guy, wrestling-based. I don’t think there’s anything that I haven’t seen before,” said Sy.

“With that being said I believe we’ll have a great game plan for him. Stylistically I match up very well against him, and if I do what I’m supposed to do and what I’m capable of doing, I will make it look pretty seamless.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Sadibou Sy above.

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