Brendan Loughnane Leg Kicks Unravel Marlon Moraes in PFL 1 Headliner

Brendan Loughnane began defense of his Professional Fighters League featherweight championship in style.

Behind a steady diet of thudding leg kicks, Loughnane broke down former World Series of Fighting title holder Marlon Moraes en route to a second-round technical knockout victory in the PFL 1: 2023 Regular Season headliner at the Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas on Saturday night. The Englishman brought the show to a close at the 1:11 mark of Round 2, earning his fifth consecutive win in the process.

Loughnane (26-4, 9-1 PFL) had a clear target from the outset of the bout, and he gradually compromised his opponent’s mobility as time progressed. Moraes (23-12-1, 0-2 PFL) was in serious danger late in the first round, when Loughane wobbled him with a right hand before drawing a grimace with yet another low kick. From that point on, it was simply a matter of survival for Moraes.

Related » PFL 2023 Season Opener Round-by-Round Scoring

After a conversation with a cageside physician, Moraes elected to continue into the second round, but his fate had already been sealed. The Brazilian came out swinging wildly in pursuit of a finish before Loughnane sent him tumbling face first to the mat after another crushing low kick. When Moraes was unable to return to his feet, referee Keith Peterson mercifully waved off the contest.

Moraes has lost six consecutive fights — all via knockout or technical knockout.

In the co-main event, defending PFL light heavyweight champion Rob Wilkinson adopted a strategic approach to earn a unanimous decision triumph against former UFC title challenger Thiago Santos. The Australian garnered a trio of 29-28 scorecards from the cageside judges for his sixth consecutive victory. Santos (22-12, 0-1 PFL), meanwhile, has lost six of his last seven professional outings.

While his run to a PFL championship in 2022 was characterized by finishes, Wilkinson (18-2, 5-0 PFL) went back to his grappling roots against a striking-minded foe. “Razor” Rob landed multiple takedowns, advanced to dominant positions and generally made it difficult for Santos to have the space he desired during the fight’s opening 10 minutes. “Marreta” did some of his best work in Round 3, as he returned to his feet from takedown attempts and separated from the clinch, which allowed him to land more strikes of consequence on the feet — including several hard kicks to the body. Though Wilkinson’s pace slowed and he began to wear the damage from those attacks, it was too little, too late for the Brazilian.

Elsewhere, former Bellator talent Will Fleury held off 17-time UFC veteran Krzysztof Jotko via split decision in a relatively uneventful light heavyweight matchup. Judges Mike Bell and Adelaide Byrd submitted 29-28 tallies for the Irishman, while Sal D’Amato saw it 29-28 in favor of Jotko.

The larger Fleury (12-3, 2-0 PFL) often dictated the terms of the bout with forward movement and grueling clinch work, and at range he enjoyed success landing numerous leg kicks on his Polish adversary. Jotko (24-7, 0-1 PFL) had his moments as well, as he countered effectively and landed several takedowns, but it wasn’t enough to get the nod from the judges in a closely-contested affair.

Earlier, Movlid Khaybulaev returned from more than a year-long absence to cruise past Ryoji Kudo in a featherweight feature. It was a clean sweep on the scorecards for the 2021 PFL champion, as he received a trio of identical 30-27 tallies from the cageside judges. The Dagestani fighter has won his last six professional outings.

Kudo (11-5-1, 1-3 PFL) never had a chance to get out of first gear. Khaybulaev (20-0-1, 7-0-1 PFL) landed multiple takedowns and relied on suffocating top pressure on the canvas to wear down his Japanese opponent. Kudo was unable mount any kind of offense from his back, and his attempts to return to his feet were brief, at best.

In the opening main card bout, takedowns, positional control and solid submission defense propelled Bubba Jenkins past Chris Wade in a rematch of featherweight contenders. All three judges submitted 30-27 scorecards in favor of the Bellator MMA veteran. Jenkins (20-6, 6-2 PFL) avenged a previous decision loss to Wade (22-9, 10-6 PFL) in the 2021 playoffs.

While Wade was able to keep Jenkins off balance by initiating scrambles and threatening with submissions in their first meeting, the Kings MMA product was rarely threatened by his opponent this time around. Jenkins grounded Wade in every frame, rarely giving the Long Island, New York, native any room to operate. Wade’s best moment occurred in Round 2, when he briefly trapped Jenkins in a guillotine after being taken down. The former NCAA national champion wrestler didn’t need long to escape the choke, however, and he ended that frame threatening back takes and landing ground-and-pound from above.

In preliminary action: 2021 PFL finalist Marthin Hamlet (11-4, 5-3 PFL) blitzed ex-Brave Combat Federation two-division champion Mohammad Fakhreddine (15-5, 0-1 PFL), earning a submission via face crank 1:05 into the opening stanza at light heavyweight. Former two-division Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Joshua Silveira (10-1, 2-1 PFL) made quick work of Sam Kei (8-7, 0-2 PFL), securing a tapout by way of rear-naked choke 2:46 into Round 1 at light heavyweight; Dana White’s Contender Series alum Alejandro Flores Garcia (22-4, 3-1 PFL) captured a three-round verdict (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) against ex-KSW champ Daniel Torres (14-6-1, 0-1 PFL) at featherweight; recent PFL Challenger Series winner Gabriel Braga (10-0, 1-0 PFL) edged two-time UFC vet Jesus Pinedo (20-6-1, 0-1 PFL) via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28) at featherweight; Elevation Fight Team export Ty Flores (12-4, 1-0 PFL) pulled away from 2022 postseason participant Delan Monte (9-4, 1-3 PFL) for a unanimous decision triumph (29-28, 29-28, 29-27) at light heavyweight and UFC veteran Impa Kasanganay (12-3, 1-0 PFL) made a successful transition to light heavyweight, taking a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) over Cory Hendricks (9-6, 2-3 PFL) in a 205-pound showcase bout.