One day after announcing a game-changing merger with Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions, the PFL put its best foot forward Friday night at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, with its two biggest stars remaining undefeated in dominant performances.
Usman Nurmagomedov closed the show at PFL New York with a spectacular finish, successfully defending his lightweight championship via a first-round knockout of fellow unbeaten fighter Archie Colgan. In the women's flyweight co-main event, Dakota Ditcheva returned from over a year out of the cage and picked up where she left off, dominating Denise Kielholtz to win by unanimous decision.
Nurmagomedov first dropped Colgan (13-1) with a head kick, and when Colgan got up, multiple uppercuts put him on the canvas for good. Referee Keith Peterson waved off the fight at 3 minutes, 42 seconds.
Nurmagomedov (22-0, 1 NC) was a step ahead from the start. A native of Dagestan, he landed a steady succession of kicks and punches as Colgan, a 31-year-old former collegiate wrestler from Denver, tried to close the distance. It was lopsided for as long as it lasted.
Afterward, Nurmagomedov, 28, attributed his performance to his work with elite training partners at the gym run by his cousin, retired former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
"Discipline," Usman Nurmagomedov said. "And hard sparring with the double UFC champion, the legend Islam Makhachev. That's how you can improve."
Nurmagomedov also had a message for his new promoter. With MVP co-founder Jake Paul standing beside him inside the cage, Nurmagomedov noted that this was the last fight on his PFL contract and issued a different challenge.
"MVP, they always trash talk a little bit about [UFC CEO] Dana [White] -- he doesn't pay," Nurmagomedov said. "Now, we're going to see how they want to pay."
In the co-main event, Ditcheva (16-0) routed Kielholtz, with all three judges scoring the bout 30-27 in her second straight fight to go the distance. Before going the distance with Sumiko Inaba last July, Ditcheva, a 28-year-old from England, had finished all nine of her PFL opponents. Overall, she has 13 finishes, including 12 knockouts.
Although Ditcheva attacked Kielholtz (9-6) to the head and body throughout the three rounds throughout the three rounds, she couldn't finish the 37-year-old from the Netherlands. As the fight wore on, fans in the arena became restless, and there were some boos. After all, Ditcheva came in as a -9000 betting favorite at DK Sports.
But this was Ditcheva's first fight since last July, as she sat out to heal injuries to both hands. There was a tune-up feel to much of this bout, which had no championship on the line. That could soon change. Ditcheva and former Bellator champion and UFC title challenger Liz Carmouche are logical next opponents in a matchup for the vacant PFL throne.
