The PFL 8 mixed martial arts event for the 2021 season of the Professional Fighters League was held on August 19, 2021. This was the second event for of the playoffs with the Heavyweight and Women's Lightweight divisions competing. This event aired on ESPN, with the prelims on ESPN+.[1]
| PFL 8 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for PFL 8 | ||||
| Promotion | Professional Fighters League | |||
| Date | August 19, 2021 | |||
| Venue | Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood | |||
| City | Hollywood, Florida, United States | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background
editKayla Harrison, the only two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo in the history of the United States, entered her second PFL playoffs unbeaten in 10 pro bouts. She faced Genah Fabian who held a 4-1 record and had won both of her PFL regular season bouts against Julija Pajic and Laura Sanchez to advance to the playoffs. This is the second time that Harrison and Fabian had been scheduled to fight in the PFL. They were set to meet in the 2019 semifinals in October of that year, but Fabian withdrew due to an illness after issues with her weight cut.[2]
The other lightweight semifinal was expected to feature 2019 finalist Larissa Pacheco and former Invicta FC fighter Taylor Guardado.[3] However, at the weigh-ins, Larissa Pacheco missed weight by 2 pounds and therefore was removed from the tournament and was replaced by 5th seeded Mariana Morais. Morais's original opponent, Claudia Zamora, instead faced Marina Mokhnatkina after Kaitlin Young, Marina's opponent, was removed from the card.[4]
The heavyweight playoffs also began. Top seed Bruno Cappelozza took on Jamelle Jones, who qualified for the playoffs with a knockout of Klidson Abreu after stepping in as an alternate. Denis Goltsov and Ante Delija also met in the other heavyweight semifinal.[5][6]
Results
edit| Main Card (ESPN) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Women's Lightweight | Kayla Harrison | def. | Genah Fabian | TKO (punches) | 1 | 4:01 | |
| Heavyweight | Bruno Cappelozza | def. | Jamelle Jones | TKO (punches) | 2 | 1:33 | |
| Women's Lightweight | Taylor Guardado | def. | Mariana Morais | Decision (split) (28-29, 29-28, 29-28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Heavyweight | Ante Delija | def. | Denis Goltsov | Decision (unanimous) (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPN+) | |||||||
| Heavyweight | Renan Ferreira | def. | Stuart Austin | KO (punch) | 1 | 0:31 | |
| Heavyweight | Muhammed DeReese | def. | Carl Seumanutafa | Decision (unanimous) (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Lightweight | Marina Mokhnatkina | def. | Claudia Zamora | Decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Lightweight | Amanda Leve | def. | Miranda Barber | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 1 | 4:18 | |
| Lightweight | Christian Lohsen | def. | Jonas Flok | Decision (unanimous) (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
2021 PFL Heavyweight playoffs
edit| Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||
| 1 |  Bruno Cappelozza
| TKO | |||||||
| 4 |  Jamelle Jones
| 2 | |||||||
| 1 | Bruno Cappelozza
| UD | |||||||
| 3 |  Ante Delija
| 5 | |||||||
| 2 |  Denis Goltsov
| 3 | |||||||
| 3 | Ante Delija
| UD | |||||||
(SD)
|
(Split Decision) | |
(UD)
|
(Unanimous Decision) | |
(MD)
|
(Majority Decision) | |
SUB
|
Submission | |
(T)KO
|
(Technical) Knock Out | |
L
|
Loss |
2021 PFL Women's Lightweight playoffs
edit| Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||
| 5 | Mariana Morais
| 3 | |||||||
| 4 | Taylor Guardado
| SD | |||||||
| 4 | Taylor Guardado
| 2 | |||||||
| 2 | Kayla Harrison
| SUB | |||||||
| 2 | Kayla Harrison
| TKO | |||||||
| 3 |  Genah Fabian
| 1 | |||||||
* Larissa Pacheco was originally scheduled to face Taylor Guardado but was unable to continue in the tournament. She was replaced by #5 ranked Mariana Morais.
(SD)
|
(Split Decision) | |
(UD)
|
(Unanimous Decision) | |
(MD)
|
(Majority Decision) | |
SUB
|
Submission | |
(T)KO
|
(Technical) Knock Out | |
L
|
Loss |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Lee, Alexander K. (2021-06-08). "PFL 2021 playoff dates announced for August". MMA Fighting. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
- ^ Newswire, MMA Fighting (2021-08-03). "PFL announces full card for second playoff event headlined by Kayla Harrison vs. Genah Fabian on Aug. 19". MMA Fighting. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
- ^ "Kayla Harrison vs. Genah Fabian headlines 2021 PFL Playoffs 2". MMA Junkie. 2021-08-03. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
- ^ Lee, Alexander K. (2021-08-18). "Larissa Pacheco out of PFL playoffs after missing weight, Mariana Morais to fight Taylor Guardado at PFL 8". MMA Fighting. Retrieved 2021-08-19.
- ^ Sherdog.com. "Professional Fighters League Adds Two European Prospects to Women's Lightweight for 2022". Sherdog. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
- ^ Mahjouri, Shakiel (2021-08-03). "PFL announces second playoff card headlined by Kayla Harrison vs. Genah Fabian". MMAmania.com. Retrieved 2021-08-04.