Renan Ferreira, Bruno Cappelozza are among the heavy hitters
In the main event, Bruno Cappelozza earns a first-round TKO victory over Stuart Austin with a ground-and-pound sequence. (1:11)
ARLINGTON, Texas — There were several emerging storylines coming out of PFL 2 on Thursday inside Esports Stadium Arlington — but none bigger than Renan Ferreira.
Ferreira (9-2), appropriately nicknamed “Problema,” knocked out Jamelle Jones (12-7) with a head kick and devastating punches in just 25 seconds. It marked the fastest finish in PFL heavyweight history, and secured Ferreira 6 points and first place in the 2022 standings.
Fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Ferreira is easily the most intimidating figure on the PFL roster. He stands 6-foot-8 and carries enough athleticism to perform a celebratory backflip, which he did on Thursday — off one leg. His physical attributes are backed up by skill, and he has now finished his last two opponents in a matter of 25 and 31 seconds.
Despite Ferreira’s eye-opening performance, 2021 champion Bruno Cappelozza (15-5) is still the man to beat at heavyweight. Cappelozza cruised through his opening regular-season matchup, finishing Stuart Austin (15-8) with strikes on the ground in the final minute of the opening round. The early finish earned Cappelozza 6 points as well.
In addition to those two first-round finishes, Denis Goltsov (28-7) moved into a three-way tie with Cappelozza and Ferreira with a first-round TKO of PFL newcomer Cody Goodale. In the other heavyweight fights, 2021 runner-up Ante Delija (20-5) picked up 5 points with a second-round TKO over Matheus Scheffel and Klidson Abreu scored 3 points by out-pointing Adam Keresh.
There also were fights in the featherweight division, where 2021 runner-up Chris Wade (21-7) sent a strong message to the rest of the 145-pound weight class by clearly outmaneuvering two-time champion Lance Palmer.
Brendan Loughnane (22-4), another preseason favorite out of Manchester, England, took a technical decision over Ryoji Kudo. The fight was waved off in the third round due to an accidental head butt, and Lochnane prevailed on the scorecards, despite a knockdown by Kudo in the first round.
Las Vegas-based Bubba Jenkins (17-5) also turned in an impressive showing against Kyle Bochniak, earning unanimous 29-28 scores for the decision.
The featherweight division remains wide open after Thursday’s opening matchups. All of the winners, which included Wade, Loughnane, Jenkins, Sheymon Moraes and Alejandro Flores, won by decision, resulting in 3 points.
The top four scorers of each weight class make the playoffs at the end of the two-fight season. The PFL’s opening-round matchups will continue next Thursday, featuring the welterweight and women’s lightweight divisions. The card is headlined by two-time champion Kayla Harrison (12-0), who will meet Marina Mokhnatkina (6-2).