The British lightweight fighter, Alfie Davis, achieved a surprising victory in the PFL 2025 Lightweight World Tournament, defeating Gadzhi Rabadanov on Friday. Immediately after the triumph, Davis requested a shot at the PFL lightweight championship. Davis (20-5-1) defeated Rabadanov (26-5-2) by unanimous decision, with scores of 48-47. This matchup, in the 155-pound category, was the main event of the PFL World Tournament held at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Davis, 33, expressed his desire to face the winner of the PFL lightweight title fight between Usman Nurmagomedov and Paul Hughes, scheduled for October. The current PFL format distinguishes the World Tournament from the lightweight championship, meaning Davis won the tournament and the $500,000 prize, but is not considered the promotion’s champion and is not guaranteed a title shot. Davis considers the current structure to be “confusing” and wants to take the title to the tournament. In an unexpected turn of events, Davis delivered an outstanding performance, as Rabadanov was the favorite to win. Davis knew how to defend Rabadanov’s takedown attempts, keeping the fight standing at crucial moments. Furthermore, he prevented the Russian from causing damage in the top position whenever he managed to take him down. In the co-main event, 41-year-old Liz Carmouche was crowned PFL flyweight champion by knocking out Jena Bishop with a left hook in the third round. Carmouche, a former Bellator MMA champion, reached the playoffs of the 2024 PFL season, where she was defeated by Taila Santos. Carmouche is the most prominent figure in PFL’s 125-pound roster who has yet to face rising star Dakota Ditcheva (15-0), who won the 2024 PFL tournament. In a third matchup of the PFL World Tournament finals, bantamweight Marcirley Alves (15-4) defeated Justin Wetzell (12-3) by unanimous decision.I want the winner of Hughes and Nurmagomedov, and then I want to put that belt in the world tournament of 2026 next year.
Alfie Davis
