PFL 3 results: Fabian Edwards slices open Impa Kasanganay, delivers blistering knockout in main event

Fabian Edwards didn’t celebrate for very long despite delivering an emphatic finish over former PFL champion Impa Kasanganay in the PFL 3 main event on Friday from Orlando.

In a battle between two noted strikers, Edwards immediately set the tone when he started throwing slick, inside elbows that kept catching Kasanganay off guard. During one exchange, Edwards unleashed an elbow that sliced open Kasanganay as blood started dripping down his face.

Between rounds the doctor had to check the massive gash on Kasaganay’s face but the fight was allowed to continue.

While Kasanganay had his moments including a short punch that clipped Edwards after an accidental clash of heads, the two-time Bellator middleweight title challenger continued to find openings to land his best shots. The finishing sequence started with a perfectly timed jab that immediately wobbled Kasanganay and that was all Edwards needed to rush forward to look for the knockout.

Edwards launched a barrage of punches that melted Kasangany and sent him to the canvas with the referee coming into rescue him as the fight came to an end at 2:14 in the second round. After enjoying a moment with his brother Leon Edwards in the cage, Fabian turned his attention to his next opponent Josh Silveira, who was also victorious earlier in the night.

“I feel good but the job’s not done,” Edwards said about his win. “One down, two more to go. I can’t get too happy. PFL you should have brought in elbows a long time ago.”

In the co-main event, 2024 PFL champion Gadzhi Rabadanov continued his reign of terror in the lightweight division after demolishing ex-UFC fighter Marc Diakiese in just 32 seconds.

The fight barely got started when Diakiese threw a kick that Rabadanov caught before tripping up his opponent and bringing the fight to the ground. From there, Rabadanov just started unloading punches in succession and Diakiese didn’t know what hit him before he just fell limp from the damaging shots.

It was a stunning sequence with Rabadanov securing yet another knockout win while moving forward in the PFL tournament where he now faces Jay-Jay Wilson in the second round.

Dalton Rosta dominated and eventually finished PFL veteran Sadibou Sy in a statement performance as he moved forward in the middleweight tournament. While Sy is well known for his striking acumen, it was Rosta who clipped him with a hard punch in the second round that eventually ended with the fighters on the floor.

Constantly attacking with punches and submission attempts, Rosta finally saw an opening to latch onto a D’arce choke. Once he tightened his grip there was no escape and Sy fell unconscious from the choke, which stopped the fight.

Jay-Jay Wilson punched his ticket to the semifinals in the lightweight tournament after a punishing performance over Mads Burnell. While he was cruising towards a unanimous decision win, Wilson just kept chipping away until he got Burnell trapped underneath him and he just started dropping bombs.

With each punch landed, Burnell faded just a little bit more and Wilson wasn’t slowing down until the referee pulled him off. It was an impressive performance as Wilson just overwhelmed Burnell and then finally earned the finish late in the third and final round.

In the opening bout on the main card, Alfie Davis surprised multi-time PFL veteran Clay Collard with a perfectly timed spinning back elbow that cracked him in the head. Collard was immediately wobbled but he still managed to keep coming despite being dropped momentarily.

It was short term survival, however, as Davis continued to blast Collard with punches until referee Blake Grice saw enough to stop the contest at 2:12 in the first round.