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October 31, 2019 – Mandalay Bay Events Center
ESPN+ 5-8p ET ESPN2 8-11p ET
The 2019 Professional Fighters League playoffs continue this Thursday, as the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions take to the cage. The contenders will have to fight twice in the same night (in quarterfinals and semifinals).
At the end of the night, two fighters will remain in both divisions. Those finalists will advance to the 2019 PFL World Championship on New Year’s Eve where they’ll compete for $1 million and their division title. Here’s a look at the heavyweight quarterfinal matchups.
Heavyweight Quarterfinals
#1 Denis Goltsov vs. #8 Satoshi Ishii
Denis Goltsov
1 - How He Got Here
Goltsov, a former combat sambo world champion, dominated this season en route to clinching the #1 seed. Goltsov won both of his regular season fights by stoppage, including a 1st round knockout of 2018 semifinalist Jared Rosholt and a 2nd round submission of Kelvin Tiller
2 - How He Plans To Win
There may not be a weakness in Goltsov’s game. He has 10 career knockouts and 10 career submissions. It will be tough to submit a judo gold medalist in Ishii, but Goltsov could use his 7-inch height advantage and 4-inch reach advantage to pick Ishii apart.
3 - What Could Go Wrong
If he doesn’t stay long against the world class judoka, Ishii could get him on his back and keep him there.
Satoshi Ishii
1 - How He Got Here
Ishii had mixed results during the regular season. The 2008 Olympic judo gold medalist beat Zeke Tuinei-Wily by split decision in his PFL debut, but then dropped a unanimous decision to Jared Rosholt.
2 - How He Plans To Win
Goltsov has only been stopped once in the last 7 years. Ishii needs to play a smart game, get Goltsov down and use his weight and his judo to strategically get the win.
3 - What Could Go Wrong
Ishii has showed that he loves to strike, but this is not the matchup where that is likely be a productive strategy.
#4 Kelvin Tiller vs. #5 Ali Isaev
Kelvin Tiller
1 - How He Got Here
Tiller started the 2019 season strong with a 1st round submission of the previously undefeated Muhammed DeReese by kimura to earn 6 points. In his second bout, he faced the much taller Denis Goltsov. The Russian used his jab to pick Tiller apart and eventually submitted him in the 2nd round.
2 - How He Plans To Win
Tiller’s last two wins both came by submission, but Isaev is a 2008 Olympian in freestyle wrestling. Tiller has more MMA experience and should lean on that to keep this fight on the feet, where “The Mama’s Boy” can put his knockout power on display.
3 - What Could Go Wrong
Isaev’s top pressure is smothering. If Tiller gets taken down early, he could end up staying there.
Ali Isaev
1 - How He Got Here
Isaev won both of his regular season fights by unanimous decision to move his undefeated career record to 6-0.
2 - How He Plans To Win
Isaev was 12 for 13 on takedown attempts this season. If he gets Tiller down, the Olympic wrestler can use his ground and pound to grind out another win.
3 - What Could Go Wrong
Tiller has showed one-punch knockout power before (see Tiller-Alencar in 2018). If Isaev can’t get Tiller to the ground, or if he’s not active enough on the ground, Isaev could suffer the first loss of his career, and it could be by stoppage.
#3 Alex Nicholson vs. #6 Francimar Barroso
Alex Nicholson
1 - How He Got Here
Nicholson was a small heavyweight last season. The Florida native then gained around 25 lbs in the offseason hoping to increase his power. That didn’t seem to help his game in his first 2019 fight, as he lost a split decision to his quarterfinal opponent Francimar Barroso. But with his season on the line, Nicholson came up with a huge knockout of Zeke Tuinei-Wily to make the playoffs. It was his 13th career knockout (most in the division).
2 - How He Plans To Win
“The Spartan” showed that he has big power in knocking out a 300 lb Samoan in his last fight. He also has more natural athleticism than Barroso. The key for Nicholson is to use his boxing and kickboxing to stay clean and strike his way to a win.
3 - What Could Go Wrong
Nicholson needs to stay on his feet and can’t go to the ground with a BJJ black belt in Barroso. If he does, he’ll be headed for a repeat of their regular season fight.
Francimar Barroso
1 - How He Got Here
Barroso won both of his regular season fights by decision, defeating Alex Nicholson and Ben Edwards. He’s now unbeaten at 4-1-0 in the PFL over the last 2 years.
2 - How He Plans To Win
In their regular season fight, Barroso outlanded Nicholson 78-52 and had 2 takedowns to Nicholson’s 1. 51 of Barroso’s strikes landed were on the ground. That’s what he needs to do here. Get this to the ground and keep it there.
3 - What Could Go Wrong
There’s been some verbal heat exchanged between these two. If Barroso gets sucked into a brawl, he could get caught.
#2 Muhammed DeReese vs. #7 Jared Rosholt
Muhammed DeReese
1 - How He Got Here
DeReese enters the playoffs looking to ride the momentum from his clutch 1st round knockout last time out in a win-or-go-home fight against Valdrin Istrefi. The former UCF football player has had all 4 of his PFL fights end in the 1st round (3-1-0), including a 1st round submission loss to Kelvin Tiller in his 2019 debut.
2 - How He Plans To Win
DeReese has 5 career wins by knockout and he’s facing a man who has lost 2 of his last 3 fights by knockout. DeReese needs to keep this fight standing and look for the stoppage.
3 - What Could Go Wrong
Rosholt was able to smother an Olympic judo gold medalist Satoshi Ishii with his world class wrestling. DeReese was a Florida state champion wrestler, but nevertheless, he doesn’t want to be on the ground with Rosholt.
Jared Rosholt
1 - How He Got Here
Rosholt rebounded from a 1st round knockout loss against Denis Goltsov in his first regular season fight to pull off an upset over Satoshi Ishii by unanimous decision. That win put him in the playoffs for a second straight season.
2 - How He Plans To Win
Rosholt was a 3-time All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State University and a PFL semifinalist last season. It’s not flashy, but he can use his wrestling to grind out wins.
3 - What Could Go Wrong
Rosholt was knocked out in the semifinals last season by eventual champ Philipe Lins. At 33 years old, he’s starting to slow down in the cage and is prone to getting caught.
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