Jason Jackson won the battle of former Bellator welterweight champions as he finished Andrey Koreshkov in the second round of their headlining bout at the PFL’s inaugural World Tournament event in Florida.
Universal Studios in Orlando played host to the event as the new-format 2025 tournament got underway, with Jackson showcasing his submission skills to put Koreshkov unconcsious with a rear-naked choke in the second round.
It means that Jackson heads into the welterweight semi-finals, where he’ll take on unbeaten contender Thad Jean, who knocked out Mukhamed Berkhamov late in the first round in the featured Early Card bout of the evening to improve his record to 9-0.
In the co-main event, former PFL featherweight champion Jesus Pinedo progressed to the next round courtesy of a first-round TKO finish of Hungarian contender Adam Borics.
Pinedo’s punch power had an instant impact as he hurt Borics early and sent him to the mat with a pair of solid left hands. With the fight on the floor, Pinedo swarmed his opponent with ground strikes to force the finish as he moved into the featherweight semi-finals in emphatic fashion.
Pinedo will move on to a mouth-watering semi-final clash with familiar foe Gabriel Braga, who finished Fred Dupras via rear-naked choke to book his spot in the semis.
Now Pinedo and Braga will face off for the third time, with each man holding one win over the other. Whoever claims the win in their trilogy clash will earn a spot in the featherweight final.
Also on the card, former interim Bellator welterweight champion used his grinding wrestling game to shut down Australian Joseph Luciano, who stepped in on short notice to replace Magomed Umalatov, who failed to make weight and was pulled from the card.
Storley’s shutout win on the scorecards sees him progress to the welterweight semis, where he’ll take on Japanese contender Masayuki Kikuiri, who stopped Giannis Bachar via second-round retirement TKO to book his place in the final four at 170 pounds.
And there was a victorious return for former PFL featherweight champion Movlid Khaybulaev, who edged a thrilling battle with Canada’s Jeremy Kennedy via split decision to progress to a semi-final bout with South Koreas’s Taekyun Kim, who submitted Ireland’s Nathan Kelly with seven seconds of the first round remaining in the first bout of the night.
PFL World Tournament: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Jason Jackson def. Andrey Koreshkov via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:21
- Jesus Pinedo def. Adam Borics via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:43
- Logan Storley def. Joseph Luciano via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Movlid Khaybulaev def. Jeremy Kennedy via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
EARLY CARD
- Thad Jean def. Mukhamed Berkhamov via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 4:25
- Gabriel Braga def. Fred Dupras via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:37
- Masayuki Kikuiri def. Giannis Bachar via TKO (retirement) – Round 2, 5:00
- Taekyun Kim def. Nathan Kelly via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:53
PFL World Tournament: Confirmed semi-final bouts
- Jason Jackson vs. Thad Jean – welterweight
- Jesus Pinedo vs. Gabriel Braga – featherweight
- Logan Storley vs. Masayuki Kikuiri – welterweight
- Movlid Khaybulaev vs. Taekyun Kim – featherweight
