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DUBAI: The Professional Fighters League returned to Dubai for a fourth time as PFL Dubai at the Coca-Cola Arena, with spectators witnessing No.3-ranked Sergei Bilostenniy (16-4) take the PFL heavyweight world championship from Vadim Nemkov (20-3) with a hard-fought unanimous decision.<\/p>\n
The former training partners had to put their friendship aside for this all-Russian clash where everything was at stake. Bilostenniy survived an early submission scare before using his striking to pick apart and out-point a bloodied Nemkov over the course of the following five rounds.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a tremendous amount of respect for Vadim Nemkov and Team Fedor. The plan today was to fight and just have fun,\u201d said an elated Bilostenniy. \u201cI used to have a dream where I would call my parents and tell them, \u2018Hey, I am a world champion\u2019 \u2026 Dreams do come true, keep dreaming, work hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the co-main event, Belgian superstar and No. 4-ranked Patrick Habirora (10-0) continued his meteoric rise through the division with an emphatic first-round victory over No. 5 Omar El Dafrawy (16-7). While \u201cThe Belgian Bomber\u201d is known for his KO power, Habirora\u2019s grappling with a standing guillotine choke rendered El Dafrawy unconscious and registered his first career win \u2014 and El Dafrawy\u2019s first loss \u2014 by submission. <\/p>\n
This bring Habirora\u2019s tally of straight first-round finishes to five. After the fight, he declared his intentions to challenge for the PFL world welterweight championship.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am 25 years old, I\u2019ve been putting every guy I\u2019ve been facing to sleep,\u201d he said. \u201cNakisa! Hey, boss. Next is the belt. Let\u2019s go!\u201d<\/p>\n
No. 1-ranked PFL heavyweight Oleg Popov (24-2) ended Pouya Rahmani\u2019s (6-1) undefeated run with a dominant and one-sided win. The 2025 PFL World Heavyweight Tournament Champion now firmly establishes his position in the rankings and as a potential contender for the world title.<\/p>\n
Japan\u2019s Joji Goto (22-9-1) made an impressive start to his PFL career with a shutout unanimous decision victory over the former Bellator bantamweight champion, No. 4-Sergio Pettis (25-9) and took to the mic afterwards to declare himself as a potential challenger for the PFL world bantamweight title.<\/p>\n
The UK\u2019s Lewis McGrillen\u202f(14-2) proved too much for Nawras Abzakh\u202f(15-7, 1 NC) in the opening bout of the main card. The 26-year-old promised \u2018McGrillen 2.0\u2019 coming into this contest and delivered, forcing Abzakh to retire in between rounds after suffering five minutes of relentlessness and a flying knee.<\/p>\n
In the feature fight of the PFL Dubai early card, 2024 and 2025 PFL Europe lightweight tournament finalist Connor Hughes\u202f(13-3) won the grudge match against the debuting Shem Rock\u202f(12-4-1) with a huge faceplant knockout in the second round.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n