Magomed Umalatov wins battle of undefeated phenoms, defeats Nayib Lopez at PFL 6
The Professional Fighters League returns to us tonight, June 23, 2023, for PFL 6, going down live from the Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
Headlining the event is a lightweight encounter between 2022 champion Olivier Aubin-Mercier (18-5) and Challenger Series alum Anthony Romero (12-1), each talent of which has gone 1-0 thus far into the year.
Co-headlining the event is a welterweight bout showcasing another 2022 champion in Sadibou Sy (14-6-2), who takes on Shane Mitchell (13-5) later in the evening.
Our second bout on the main card tonight came in the welterweight division between a pair of undefeated studs Magomed Umalatov (14-0) and Nayib Lopez (16-1).
Umalatov had gone 4-0 inside the PFL cage to date (3 knockouts), though he’d gone just 1-0 in 2023. Lopez on the other hand had gone 1-0 thus far into his PFL tenure and 2-0 this year.
Continue reading to see how this welterweight encounter went down:
Official Result: Magomed Umalatov def. Nayib Lopez via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
Umalatov has a dominant opening round, nearly securing the knockout finish throughout it. He also nearly submitted Lopez with an arm-triangle choke.
Umalatov opens up with some violent combinations before he gets Lopez down to the mat. Umalatov pounds away with thunderous ground and pound, honestly the fight could’ve been stopped in round one and not many would’ve argued.
Woah… tight choke by Umalatov! Lopez survives!#PFLRegularSeason LIVE NOW
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🌎https://t.co/jPNvomD5xg pic.twitter.com/astYnz55gW— PFL (@PFLMMA) June 24, 2023
heart of a lion https://t.co/nVpQ821X4A
— r y a n (@ryaanmunro) June 24, 2023
That was easily a 10-8 round.
Round two is much closer, as Umalatov has slowed considerably; he clearly expected a finish in the first round, and he expended an absurd amount of energy trying to get it. The round was quite even up until Umalatov secures a takedown with 15 seconds left in it.
Umalatov ultimately wins the third and final round with his wrestling as well. His energy reserves still weren’t the same as in the opening round, which should put some fear in him considering he has a good chance of competing in a five round fight at the end of the year, but this was a good win for the Russian contender. This was just the second decision victory of his 14-fight, 14-win career.
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