Fabian Edwards delivered a vicious head kick knockout to finish Dalton Rosta to claim the PFL middleweight tournament title in almost identical fashion to what his brother Leon Edwards did in the UFC three years ago.<\/p>\n
The conclusion to the PFL 10 main event played out in dramatic fashion with Edwards dishing out a series of inside leg kicks before he finally unleashed the head kick that Rosta never saw coming. As soon as Edwards connected, Rosta crashed to the canvas where he laid motionless for a few moments, although he eventually got back to his feet.<\/p>\n
The official stoppage came at 1:28 in the third round with Edwards claiming the knockout victory.<\/p>\n
Leon Edwards rushed in the cage to celebrate with his brother while also informing him that the knockout came almost exactly three years to the day when he famously pulled off his fifth-round head kick finish over Kamaru Usman to win the UFC welterweight title back in 2022.<\/p>\n
The date of Leon\u2019s fight was Aug. 20, 2022 and Fabian\u2019s knockout came on Aug. 21, 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is team headshot dead,\u201d Edwards said about the remarkable similarity with his finish compared to his brother. \u201cI\u2019m so grateful. Last year October, I lost the championship fight to Johnny [Eblen]. 12 months on, I\u2019m the PFL champ.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was an incredible way for Edwards to cap off the year after he entered the PFL tournament with hopes of eventually earning another shot at the championship following two past losses to Johnny Eblen. Edwards made the most of his appearance in the PFL tournament after scoring a knockout over former PFL champion Impa Kasanganay in the opening round and then defeating Josh Silveira to punch his ticket to the finals.<\/p>\n
While he had to deal with some early adversity as Rosta came out ready to fight and showed a solid game plan in the early rounds, Edwards eventually came through with the devastating knockout.<\/p>\n
Following his win, Edwards stared down new PFL middleweight champion Costello van Steenis after he pulled off an upset to beat Eblen back in July. Those two also have history with van Steenis holding a split decision win over Edwards from their initial meeting back in 2020.<\/p>\n
Now it appears they\u2019ll meet again, this time with the PFL middleweight title going up for grabs.<\/p>\n
Oleg Popov became the new PFL heavyweight tournament winner after lackluster fight<\/p>\n
Oleg Popov did just enough to earn a split decision win in a lackluster heavyweight title fight with Alexander Romanov.<\/p>\n
Popov found the majority of his success in the earlier rounds as he punished Romanov\u2019s lead leg with kicks while also flashing his boxing at moments with some solid striking exchanges. When it was all over, two judges gave Popov the win with scores of 49-46 and 49-48 with the third official giving Romanov the fight with a 48-47 scorecard.<\/p>\n
That was still enough for Popov to get the nod and claim the $500,000 prize that goes along with the 2025 heavyweight title.<\/p>\n
Overall, the heavyweights didn\u2019t exactly put on a barnburner in what ultimately amounted to a bit of a sloppy standup fight. Popov did the majority of his damage with leg kicks while Romanov stuck to his boxing and then working from the clinch to dish out punishment from the inside, peppering with punches and throwing a few knees to the body.<\/p>\n
Finally in the fourth round, Romanov found an opening for a powerful uppercut that rocked Popov and the former UFC heavyweight went for the kill. He started unloading punches in bunches but he couldn\u2019t put Popov away and the fighters ended up in the clinch again as they both tried to catch their breath.<\/p>\n
That final surge still wasn\u2019t enough to put Romanov over the top on the judges\u2019 scorecards, however, with Popov doing just enough to get the nod and claim the heavyweight title.<\/p>\n
Antonio Carlos Jr. wins wild fight to claim light heavyweight title<\/p>\n
Antonio Carlos Jr. ended up in a wild fight with Sullivan Cauley but he ultimately secured a second-round rear-naked choke submission to claim the PFL light heavyweight tournament title.<\/p>\n
There were multiple knockdowns, upkicks and blood flying across the cage but Carlos was eventually able to take control following a frantic pace set by the 205-pounders.<\/p>\n
Carlos set the tone early with a blistering knockdown after he blasted Cauley with a right hand that sent him crashing to the canvas. Rather than trying to snatch a submission, Carlos continued hammering away with strikes but Cauley survived the barrage to get back to his feet.<\/p>\n
A moment later, Carlos snapped off a jab that cracked Cauley and blood immediately started trickling down from his nose after he already had a cut over his eye from the initial knockdown.<\/p>\n
Just when it looked like Carlos was nearing a potential finish, Cauley caught him off guard with a punch that put the Brazilian down on the ground. Cauley dove down to the canvas to continue his assault but instead he got clipped with an up kick from Carlos that sent him flying backwards.<\/p>\n
That wild exchange finally slowed things down a little bit but it wasn\u2019t long before Carlos connected with another punch that seemingly wobbled Cauley. The shot also opened another cut as Cauley was really wearing the damage from the repeated strikes landed by Carlos.<\/p>\n
An accidental clash of heads and an eye poke paused the action briefly in the second round and the damage on Cauley\u2019s face got even worse. If the round ended, there was a good chance a doctor would have stopped Cauley from continuing but Carlos had no desire to win that way.<\/p>\n
Instead, Carlos secured a takedown and immediately advanced his position to lock on a fight ending rear-naked choke as he secured the light heavyweight championship.<\/p>\n
Full results for PFL 10 below:<\/p>\n
Fabian Edwards def. Dalton Rosta via knockout (head kick) at 1:28, R3<\/p>\n
Oleg Popov def. Alexander Romanov via split decision (47-48, 49-46, 48-47)<\/p>\n
Antonio Carlos Jr. def. Sullivan Cauley via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:44, R2<\/p>\n
Alexei Pergande def. Ethan Goss via submission (D\u2019arce choke) at 3:52, R1<\/p>\n
Lazaro Dayron def. Bryce Meredith via TKO (punches) at 4:06, R3<\/p>\n
Impa Kasanganay def. Andrew Sanchez via TKO (punches) at 4:31, R3<\/p>\n
Rasul Magomedov def. Guilherme Viana via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)<\/p>\n
Sergey Bilostenniy def. Karl Williams via TKO (punches) at 4:11, R2<\/p>\n
Josh Silveira def. Murad Ramazanov (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)<\/p>\n
J.P. Saint Louis def. Tyler Ray via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)<\/p>\n