Bruce Souto Takes Contract After Highlight-Reel KO at PFL Challenger Series 1

The Professional Fighters League launched its latest format, the PFL Challenger Series, which featured eight light heavyweight contestants competing for a contract on the upcoming Regular Season.

It took only one perfectly-timed shot from Bruce Souto to pocket the PFL contract in a fight that was arguably going in favor of Travis Davis, a short-notice replacement for Joao Paulo Fagundes. Souto (15-3, 1-0 PFL) landed a flying knee that folded Davis (10-6, 0-1 PFL) before finishing the job with a few follow-up punches. The referee stopped the contest at the 4:43 mark of Round 1. In addition to the contract, Souto also took home a $5,000 bonus for his performance.

The headliner featured a clash between former two-division Legacy Fighting Alliance Joshua Silveira and Mohamed Juma. The fighters stormed out of the gate with kicks and punches landed from each man. Juma looked dangerous on the feet at first, but Silveira made the most out of his wrestling and grappling pedigree as time went by, spacing takedowns and submission attempts to keep his opponent at bay.

Throughout the fight, Silveira had to overcome many fouls from Juma, including a low blow, a bite, a fish hook and several cage grabs. The final sequence saw Silveira land a heavy kick before dragging Juma to the canvas and jumping on his back for a rear-naked choke attempt. The submission was deep, and Juma was forced to tap after a few seconds of futile resistance. The official time was 1:52 of Round 3.

Related » PFL Challenger-Series 1 Round-by-Round Scoring

Alexander Poppeck took on Bellator MMA and Dana White’s Contender Series alum Taylor Johnson. The pair put on a hard-fought contest that saw Johnson rely on his wrestling to overwhelm Poppeck on the canvas. In his turn, the German showcased an educated jab and some interesting boxing combinations. The bout was pretty even going into the third round, but two solid leg kicks followed by a heavy left hand from “Tombstone” that briefly shook his foe and almost dropped him. Poppeck’s subsequent takedown attempt was easily overthrown by Johnson, who spent the rest of the contest on top of his adversary. Ultimately, all three cageside judges rewarded Johnson’s efforts with a well-deserved decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

Relentless takedowns and thudding ground-and-pound earned Karl Williams (4-1, 1-0 PFL) a unanimous decision over Miles Amos (5-3, 0-1 PFL), who stepped up on short notice to replace Simeon Powell. The judges gave 30-27, 30-27 and 30-26 nods to Williams.