Jason Jackson is one step closer to another championship.
PFL launched its 2025 tournament season with PFL 1 in Orlando, Florida, featuring the opening round of the welterweight and featherweight tournaments. The main event saw Jackson defeat Andrey Koreshkov with a second-round technical submission, securing his place in the welterweight semifinals.
After a close first round between the former Bellator welterweight champions, Jackson gained control in the second round. However, the fight nearly took a turn when Jackson landed an illegal elbow to the back of Koreshkov’s head, causing a cut and a pause in the action by referee Keith Peterson. Despite Koreshkov using the full five minutes for recovery, Peterson chose not to penalize Jackson with a point deduction, and the fight continued. Jackson immediately capitalized, taking Koreshkov down and delivering heavy ground strikes until Koreshkov turned his back. Jackson quickly secured a rear-naked choke, submitting Koreshkov.
In the co-main event, Jesus Pinedo made a successful return to the SmartCage, defeating Adam Borics in the first round. Pinedo, the 2023 PFL featherweight tournament winner, fought for the first time since winning the title against Gabriel Braga. He showed no signs of ring rust, coming out aggressively and hurting Borics with a strong right hand. Pinedo pressed his advantage, landing strikes until he dropped Borics and secured the TKO victory. Pinedo will now face Braga in the featherweight tournament semifinals for a trilogy fight.
In another main card welterweight fight, former interim Bellator champion Logan Storley easily advanced to the semifinals with a unanimous decision win over Joseph Luciano. Storley was originally scheduled to fight Magomed Umalatov, but Umalatov missed weight and was replaced by Luciano, who couldn`t overcome Storley’s wrestling.
Storley will compete against Masayuki Kikuiri in the semifinals, after Kikuiri defeated Giannis Bachar earlier in the evening.
The main card opener saw Movlid Khaybulaev narrowly defeat Jeremy Kennedy by split decision to advance to the featherweight semifinals. Kennedy started strongly, troubling Khaybulaev in the first round, but the 2021 PFL champion recovered in the second, returning the pressure and controlling the round. The third round was closely contested. Ultimately, the judges awarded Khaybulaev the victory.
Khaybulaev will face Ta Hyun Kim in his featherweight semifinal bout, after Kim defeated Nathan Kelly in the first fight of the evening.
The prelims featured exciting finishes, with Thad Jean and Masayuki Kikuiri reaching the welterweight semifinals, and Ta Hyun Kim and Gabriel Braga advancing in the featherweight tournament. Jean particularly impressed with a knockout of Mukhamed Berkhamov and will now face Jason Jackson in the semifinals.
PFL 1 Results:
- Jason Jackson def. Andrey Koreshkov via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2
- Jesus Pinedo def. Adam Borics via TKO (punches) – Round 1
- Logan Storley def. Joseph Luciano via unanimous decision (30-27×3)
- Movlid Khaybulaev def. Jeremy Kennedy via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Thad Jean def. Mukhamed Berkhamov via TKO (punches) – Round 1
- Gabriel Braga def. Fred Dupras via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1
- Masayuki Kikuiri def. Giannis Bachar via TKO (retirement) – Round 2
- Tae Hyun Kim def. Nathan Kelly via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1
