Veteran light heavyweight Phil Davis punched his ticket to the PFL World Tournament semifinals on Thursday with a second-round finish over Rob Wilkinson.
Fighting for the first time since June 2023, Davis (25-7) dropped Wilkinson with a right hand along the fence and brought in referee Kevin MacDonald moments later with a follow-up left. The finish, which headlined PFL's event in Orlando, is Davis' first knockout since 2019.
"It was just a matter of committing to that right hand," Davis said. "Waiting for the right read, waiting for him to have that right foot placement."
It's a big win for Davis, who will turn 41 this year. The former UFC and Bellator MMA standout was forced to withdraw from a bout against Wilkinson (19-4) last year because of injury. He will now move on to face Sullivan Cauley (7-1) in the semifinals in June. Cauley advanced on Thursday with a TKO finish over Alex Polizzi.
On the other side of the light heavyweight bracket, Simeon Powell (11-1) will face Antonio Carlos Jr. (17-6). For Carlos Jr., it is his second career trip to the PFL semifinals. He won the PFL tournament in 2021.
The heavyweight quarterfinals were also featured in Thursday's event. Former Bellator interim champion Valentin Moldavsky (14-4) defeated Sergey Bilostenniy (13-4) by unanimous decision. He'll face Moldova's Alexandr Romanov (18-3), who submitted Tim Johnson in the first round. Oleg Popov (20-2) and Rodrigo Nascimento (12-3) also advanced with a pair of split decisions.
The PFL World Tournament semifinals will pick back up in June, with events in Nashville, Tennessee; Wichita, Kansas; and Chicago.
